# 2012 Orkney Islands Council election

The 2012 Orkney Islands Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Orkney Council. The election used the six wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 21 Councillors being elected.
As in 2007 Independents took all of the 21 seats on the council. The Scottish National Party contested 4 wards in Orkney for the first time in 2012 but only secured 3% of the vote. The council was again administered solely by Independents.

## Election result

Orkney Local Election Result 2012 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Independent | 21 | - | - | - | 100.0 | 96.9 | 8,161 | -2.3 |
| SNP | 0 | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 251 | New |
| UKIP | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 11 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

## Ward results
### Kirkwall East

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kirkwall East - 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 |
| | Independent | Janice Annal (incumbent) | 34.34 | 533 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Steven Heddle (incumbent) | 26.35 | 409 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Gwenda Shearer | 13.71 | 212 | 278.9 | 307.9 | 319.6 | | | | |
| | Independent | Bill Stout | 9.02 | 140 | 198.6 | 227.1 | 232.9 | 235.3 | 263.2 | 300.9 | 377 |
| | SNP | John Mowat | 5.9 | 93 | 105.9 | 115.4 | 116.7 | 117.5 | 132.5 | | |
| | Independent | Alastair MacLeod | 4.96 | 77 | 114.7 | 129.2 | 136.1 | 137.8 | 151.6 | 174.2 | |
| | Independent | Gerry McGuinness | 3.48 | 54 | 69.9 | 77.6 | 85.9 | 87.4 | | | |
| | Independent | Paul Dawson | 1.80 | 28 | 37.6 | 40.5 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 3,391 Valid: 1,546 Spoilt: 6 Quota: 310 Turnout: 1,552 (45.75%) ||||||||||||

### Kirkwall West & Orphir

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kirkwall West & Orphir - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | Independent | Jack Moodie (incumbent) † | 30.85 | 476 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Richards | 18.34 | 283 | 318.1 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | David Tullock (incumbent) | 13.93 | 215 | 263.9 | 266.3 | 267.7 | 270.1 | 273.2 | 288.1 | 301.1 | 321.3 | | |
| | Independent | Alan Clouston | 13.80 | 213 | 232.9 | 234.7 | 236.8 | 243 | 248.8 | 260.2 | 272.3 | 281.9 | 285.9 | 368.4 |
| | Independent | David Dawson | 10.50 | 162 | 186.1 | 188.9 | 188.9 | 192.5 | 206.4 | 213.4 | 219.9 | 232.4 | 236.7 | |
| | SNP | Lynda Baird | 3.24 | 50 | 52.8 | 53.2 | 53.2 | 53.3 | 54.3 | 56.3 | | | | |
| | Independent | Laurence Leonard | 2.72 | 42 | 49.5 | 49.6 | 52.7 | 52.7 | 54.5 | 58.9 | 64.3 | | | |
| | Independent | Sandra Shearer | 2.2 | 34 | 43.6 | 44.1 | 44.1 | 45.2 | 50.9 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Raymond Smith | 1.94 | 30 | 37.8 | 38.4 | 40.4 | 43.2 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Bryan Leslie | 1.04 | 16 | 18.8 | 19.5 | 19.6 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Walter Haywood | 0.58 | 9 | 9.7 | 9.9 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 3,289 Valid: 1,530 Spoilt: 13 Quota: 307 Turnout: 1,543 (46.94%) |||||||||||||||

### Stromness and South Isles

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Stromness and South Isles - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Independent | James Stockan (incumbent) | 53.2 | 576 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Rob Crichton | 11.65 | 126 | 234.2 | 235.3 | 250.5 | 262.3 | 364.1 |
| | Independent | Maurice Davidson | 11.28 | 122 | 172.6 | 174.6 | 189.3 | 216.7 | 270.2 |
| | Independent | John Brown | 10.63 | 115 | 178.9 | 180.9 | 196.8 | 213.6 | |
| | Independent | Terry Thomson | 5.64 | 61 | 82.9 | 84.4 | 100.6 | | |
| | SNP | Arthur Alexander Robertson | 5.64 | 61 | 79.7 | 81.2 | | | |
| | UKIP | Delia Mary Hall | 1.02 | 11 | 15.3 | | | | |
| Electorate: 2,210 Valid: 1,072 Spoilt: 10 Quota: 269 Turnout: 1,082 (48.76%) ||||||||||

### West Mainland

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
West Mainland - 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 |
| | Independent | Harvey Johnston | 23.19 | 427 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Alistair Gordon (incumbent)†† | 17.49 | 322 | 333.3 | 335.5 | 353.6 | 371.4 | | | |
| | Independent | Jimmy Moar (incumbent) | 15.59 | 287 | 303.2 | 307.2 | 317.4 | 319.4 | 320.4 | 353.1 | 470.1 |
| | Independent | Owen Tierney | 13.53 | 249 | 257 | 263 | 277.1 | 308.8 | 309.5 | 358.9 | 446.1 |
| | Independent | Eoin F. Scott (incumbent) | 12.93 | 238 | 246.4 | 249.6 | 254.8 | 276.2 | 277 | 314.4 | |
| | Independent | Victor Muir | 7.17 | 132 | 136.9 | 139.9 | 143.9 | 150.1 | 150.5 | | |
| | Independent | Andrew Appleby | 4.02 | 74 | 77.7 | 81.7 | 93 | | | | |
| | Independent | Carol Granere | 3.97 | 73 | 75.1 | 78.1 | | | | | |
| | Independent | David Ward | 1.79 | 33 | 33.4 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 3,379 Valid: 1,835 Spoilt: 6 Quota: 368 Turnout: 1,841 (54.53%) ||||||||||||

### East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
East Mainland, South Ronaldsay & Burray - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Independent | Russ Madge (incumbent) | 40.46 | 564 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Andrew Drever (incumbent) | 18.72 | 261 | 315.2 | 331.6 | 344.5 | 375.3 | | |
| | Independent | Jim Foubister (incumbent) | 16.21 | 226 | 247.9 | 253.5 | 263.2 | 280.2 | 289.6 | 368.6 |
| | Independent | Gill Smee | 10.9 | 152 | 209.3 | 226.9 | 236.6 | 257.3 | 267.2 | |
| | Independent | Ken Ross | 7.03 | 98 | 118.4 | 123.3 | 128.2 | | | |
| | SNP | Ewan Loudon | 3.37 | 47 | 56.6 | 59.8 | | | | |
| | Independent | Eleanor MacLeod | 2.65 | 37 | 52.4 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 2,536 Valid: 1,385 Spoilt: 9 Quota: 347 Turnout: 1,394 (54.97%) |||||||||||

### North Isles

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No Change
North Isles - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Independent | Stephen Hagan (incumbent) | 40.93 | 433 | | | |
| | Independent | Stephen Clackson | 29.1 | 308 | | | |
| | Independent | Gillian Skuse | 16.07 | 170 | 219.2 | 237.7 | |
| | Independent | Graham Sinclair (incumbent) | 13.61 | 144 | 238.1 | 249.5 | 375.1 |
| Electorate: 1,854 Valid: 1,055 Spoilt: 3 Quota: 264 Turnout: 1,058 (57.47%) ||||||||

## Post-Election Changes

* † Kirkwall West and Orphir Independent Cllr Jack Moodie resigned his seat for personal reasons on 9 September 2014. A by-election was held on 27 November 2014 and was won by the Independent Leslie Manson.
* †† West Mainland Independent Cllr Alistair Gordon died on 19 May 2015. A by-election was held on 18 August 2015 to fill the vacancy and it was won by the Independent Rachael King.

### By-elections

Kirkwall West and Orphir by-election, 27 November 2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Independent | Leslie Manson | 57.5 | 647 |
| | Independent | Gillian Skuse | 25.0 | 281 |
| | Independent | Lorraine McBrearty | 12.6 | 142 |
| | Independent | Laurence Leonard | 4.9 | 55 |
| Quota: 563 |||||
West Mainland by-election, 18 August 2015 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Orkney Manifesto Group | Rachael King | 51.4 | 593 |
| | Independent | Barbara Foulkes | 38.6 | 281 |
| | Scottish Green | Fiona Grahame | 10.0 | 115 |
| Quota: 578 |||||