# Hamilton South (ward)

Hamilton South is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 22,032 people.
The ward has produced strong results for both the Scottish National Party (SNP) – who won half the seats at the 2012, 2017 and 2022 elections – and Labour who won half the seats at the 2007, 2012 and 2022 elections. Following a by-election win in 2013, Labour held three of the four seats.

## Boundaries

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Hamilton South was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Low Waters and Silvertonhill wards as well as part of the former Cadzow and Woodhead/Meikle Earnock wards and a small part of the former Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair and Hamilton Centre North wards. Hamilton South covers the southern part of Hamilton including the Avon Grove, Cadzow, Eddlewood, Fairhill, Laighstonehall, Low Waters, Meikle Earnock, Silvertonhill, Torhead Farm and Woodhead neighbourhoods. Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets around Portland Place, Burnblea Street and Kemp Street were added to the ward from Hamilton North and East which resulted in the ward's northeastern boundary moving to the Argyle Line railway tracks.

## Councillors

| Year | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors |
| 2007 | | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | | Brian McCaig (Labour) | | Bobby Lawson (SNP) | John Murray (Conservative) |
| 2012 | | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | Angela Crawley (SNP) | Brian McCaig (Labour) | | Bobby Lawson (SNP) |
| 2013 by-election | | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | Angela Crawley (SNP) | Brian McCaig (Labour) | Stuart Gallacher (Labour) |
| 2015 by-election | John Ross (SNP) | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | | Brian McCaig (Labour) | Stuart Gallacher (Labour) |
| 2017 | John Ross (SNP) | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | | Lynne Mailon (Conservative) | | Josh Wilson (SNP) |
| 2017 | John Ross (SNP) | Joe Lowe (Labour/Independent) | | Lynne Mailon (Conservative) | | Josh Wilson (SNP) |
| 2022 | John Ross (SNP) | | Gavin Wylie Keatt (Labour) | | Celine Handibode (Labour) | Helen Toner (SNP) |

## Election results
### 2022 election

Hamilton South - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | SNP | John Ross (incumbent) | 26.3 | 1,921 | |
| | Labour | Gavin Wylie Keatt | 23.1 | 1,688 | |
| | Labour | Celine Handibode | 22.3 | 1,632 | |
| | SNP | Helen Toner | 15.1 | 1,105 | 1,525 |
| | Conservative | Lynne Nailon (incumbent) | 13.1 | 960 | 967 |
| Electorate: 16,516 Valid: 7,306 Spoilt: 193 Quota: 1,462 Turnout: 45.4% ||||||
Source:

### 2017 election

Hamilton South - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | John Ross (incumbent) | 30.6 | 2,167 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Joe Lowe (incumbent) | 25.7 | 1,818 | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Lynne Nailon | 21.8 | 1,544 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Brian McCaig (incumbent) | 9.1 | 643 | 669 | 991 | 1,020 | 1,055 | 1,177 | |
| | SNP | Josh Wilson | 6.7 | 475 | 1,105 | 1,112 | 1,115 | 1,209 | 1,245 | 1,485 |
| | Scottish Green | John Kane | 3.0 | 216 | 249 | 257 | 265 | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joanne Ferguson | 3.0 | 210 | 228 | 244 | 282 | 345 | | |
| Electorate: 16,328 Valid: 7,073 Spoilt: 177 Quota: 1,415 Turnout: 44.4% |||||||||||
Source:

### 2015 by-election

Hamilton South by-election (6 August 2015)- 1 seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SNP | John Ross | 48.0 | 1,881 | 1,883 | 1,888 | 1,905 | 1919 | 1,988 |
| | Labour | Jim Lee | 35.6 | 1,396 | 1,398 | 1,405 | 1,410 | 1,425 | 1,460 |
| | Conservative | Lynne Nailon | 8.9 | 349 | 349 | 354 | 365 | 389 | 394 |
| | Scottish Green | John Kane | 3.2 | 127 | 128 | 132 | 135 | 146 | |
| | Scottish Christian | Craig Smith | 2.0 | 77 | 80 | 81 | 84 | | |
| | UKIP | Donald Murdo MacKay | 1.1 | 43 | 44 | 45 | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Matthew Cockburn | 0.8 | 32 | 34 | | | | |
| | Pirate | Andrew McCallum | 0.3 | 13 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,811 Valid: 3,918 Spoilt: 52 Quota: 1,960 Turnout: 26.8% ||||||||||
Source:

### 2013 by-election

Hamilton South by-election (24 October 2013) - 1 seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Labour | Stuart Gallacher | 51.7 | 1,781 |
| | SNP | Josh Wilson | 32.5 | 1,120 |
| | Conservative | Lynne Nailon | 9.4 | 322 |
| | Scottish Christian | Craig Martin | 3.9 | 133 |
| | UKIP | Josh Richardson | 2.5 | 86 |
| Electorate: 14,478 Valid: 3,442 Spoilt: 43 Quota: 1,722 Turnout: 24.1% |||||
Source:

### 2012 election

Hamilton South - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | Joe Lowe (incumbent) | 36.6 | 1,975 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Angela Crawley | 23.2 | 1,255 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Brian McCaig (incumbent) | 14.8 | 800 | 1,512 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Bobby Lawson (incumbent) | 9.3 | 502 | 537 | 599 | 747 | 773 | 861 | 988 |
| | Conservative | John Murray (incumbent) | 9.2 | 496 | 516 | 542 | 545 | 584 | 654 | |
| | Scottish Senior Citizens | David Holland | 3.7 | 199 | 234 | 314 | 324 | 380 | | |
| | Scottish Christian | Craig Smith | 3.1 | 165 | 176 | 198 | 200 | | | |
| Electorate: 14,383 Valid: 5,392 Spoilt: 134 Quota: 1,079 Turnout: 37.5% |||||||||||
Source:

### 2007 election

Hamilton South - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | Labour | Joe Lowe | 34.9 | 2,626 | | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Bobby Lawson | 23.8 | 1,791 | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Brian McCaig | 13.4 | 1,005 | 1,685 | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | John Murray | 10.7 | 808 | 837 | 872 | 883 | 906 | 942 | 1,121 | ??? |
| | Independent | John Carracher | 6.2 | 464 | 531 | 564 | 584 | 611 | 740 | 876 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Oswald | 5.7 | 427 | 459 | 509 | 532 | 633 | 664 | | |
| | Independent | David Holland | 2.9 | 215 | 255 | 276 | 283 | 300 | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Denize McBride | 2.5 | 188 | 219 | 265 | 276 | | | | |
| Electorate: 15,037 Valid: 7,524 Quota: 1,505 Turnout: 51.0% ||||||||||||
Source: