# 2022 East Renfrewshire Council election

The 2022 East Renfrewshire Council election took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 5 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 18 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.
At the last election in 2017, the Conservatives won the most seats, but a coalition administration was formed between the SNP and Labour. This also included 1 independent.

## Background
### Composition

| Party | 2017 result | Dissolution |
| SNP | 5 | 5 |
| Labour | 4 | 4 |
| Conservative | 7 | 5 |
| Independent | 2 | 4 |

### Changes since 2017

Barrhead, Liboside & Uplawmoor Conservative Cllr Paul Aitken resigned from the Scottish Conservatives and became an Independent on 22 January 2018.
Clarkston, Netherlee & Williamwood Conservative Cllr Stewart Miller resigned from the Scottish Conservatives and became an Independent on 10 September 2020.

## Results

2022 East Renfrewshire Council election result :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| SNP | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33.3 | 28.6 | 11,249 | 4.3 |
| Conservative | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27.8 | 29.5 | 11,599 | 8.8 |
| Labour | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27.8 | 20.2 | 7,973 | 2.8 |
| Independent | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 14.1 | 5,571 | 4.9 |
| Scottish Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 2,111 | 4.0 |
| Alba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 341 | New |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 203 | 1.7 |
| Scottish Family | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 203 | New |
| Freedom Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 67 | New |
| ISP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 57 | New |

### Ward summary

Results of the 2022 East Renfrewshire Council election by ward (first preferences) :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | SNP | SNP | Labour | Labour | Conservative | Conservative | Independent | Independent | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor | 33.4 | 2 | 20.1 | 1 | 10.7 | 0 | 31.1 | 1 | 4.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Newton Mearns North and Neilston | 32.1 | 1 | 25.4 | 1 | 34.5 | 1 | | | 8.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Giffnock and Thornliebank | 26.1 | 1 | 22.2 | 1 | 25.1 | 1 | 19.9 | 0 | 6.7 | 0 | 3 |
| Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood | 29.0 | 1 | 16.8 | 1 | 23.5 | 1 | 20.7 | 1 | 10.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Newton Mearns South & Eaglesham | 24.3 | 1 | 19.1 | 1 | 48.9 | 2 | | | 7.8 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 28.5 | 6 | 20.2 | 5 | 29.5 | 5 | 14.1 | 2 | 7.6 | 0 | 18 |

## Ward results
### Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor

Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor - 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 | Danny Devlin (incumbent) | 26.0% | 1,753 | | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Angela Convery (incumbent) | 24.3% | 1,639 | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Betty Wood Cunningham (incumbent) | 20.1% | 1,355 | | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Greg Turner† | 10.7% | 722 | 760 | 761 | 762 | 767 | 780 | 898 | |
| | SNP | Chris Lunday | 9.1% | 616 | 691 | 935 | 936 | 968 | 1,105 | 1,198 | 1,282 |
| | Independent | Paul Aitken (incumbent) | 5.1% | 345 | 462 | 470 | 472 | 491 | 536 | | |
| | Scottish Green | Frank Wilson | 3.4% | 229 | 258 | 272 | 273 | 285 | | | |
| | Alba | Neil Anderson | 1.1% | 74 | 91 | 96 | 96 | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,485 Valid: 6,733 Spoilt: 133 (1.93%) Quota: 1,347 Turnout: 47.2% ||||||||||||
† Greg Turner was suspended from the Conservative Party on 21 April 2022, prior to the election, after being linked to derogatory online remarks against Catholics. His name remained on the ballot paper, as the deadline for nominations had passed.

### Newton Mearns North and Neilston

Newton Mearns North and Neilston - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | SNP | Tony Buchanan (incumbent) | 32.1% | 1,938 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Morrison | 26.2% | 1,579 |
| | Labour | Owen O'Donnell | 25.4% | 1,532 |
| | Conservative | Farooq Choudhry | 8.3% | 501 |
| | Scottish Green | Adrian Egglestone | 5.3% | 322 |
| | Scottish Family | Maria Reid | 1.4% | 84 |
| | Alba | Carol McKenzie | 0.9% | 55 |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Derek McMillan | 0.4% | 23 |
| Electorate: 12,397 Valid: 6,034 Spoilt: 72 (1.2%) Quota: 1,509 Turnout: 49% |||||

### Giffnock and Thornliebank

Giffnock and Thornliebank - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | SNP | Colm Merrick (incumbent) | 26.1% | 1,888 | | | | |
| | Conservative | Gordon Wallace (incumbent) | 25.1% | 1,816 | | | | |
| | Labour | Mary Montague | 22.2% | 1,608 | 1,629 | 1,630 | 1,662 | 1,863 |
| | Independent | Allan Steele | 13.5% | 978 | 983 | 986 | 998 | 1,033 |
| | Independent | Alice Roy | 6.4% | 464 | 469 | 470 | 488 | 576 |
| | Scottish Green | Karen Sharkey | 5.4% | 387 | 418 | 418 | 439 | |
| | Alba | George Gebbie | 1.3% | 92 | 97 | 97 | | |
| Electorate: 12,996 Valid: 7,233 Spoilt: 80 (1.1%) Quota: 1,809 Turnout: 56.2% |||||||||

### Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood

Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood - 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 |
| | SNP | Annette Ireland (incumbent) | 21.6% | 2,119 | | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Kate Campbell | 17.2% | 1,692 | 1,692 | 1,694 | 1,710 | 2,254 | | | |
| | Labour | Katie Victoria Pragnell | 16.8% | 1,647 | 1,654 | 1,657 | 1,728 | 1,743 | 1,798 | 1,908 | 2,116 |
| | Independent | David Macdonald (incumbent) | 14.3% | 1,407 | 1,415 | 1,425 | 1,448 | 1,471 | 1,541 | 1,868 | 2,017 |
| | SNP | David Tam McDonald | 7.4% | 724 | 838 | 852 | 863 | 864 | 867 | 895 | 1,233 |
| | Scottish Green | Gordon Keenan | 7.3% | 717 | 737 | 745 | 780 | 787 | 796 | 846 | |
| | Independent | Stewart Miller (incumbent) | 6.4% | 624 | 626 | 634 | 656 | 673 | 718 | | |
| | Conservative | Gerald Edwards | 6.3% | 622 | 622 | 622 | 627 | | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Daphne Vlastari | 2.1% | 203 | 204 | 206 | | | | | |
| | ISP | Colette Walker | 0.6% | 57 | 58 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 16,612 Valid: 9,812 Spoilt: 165 (1.6%) Quota: 1,963 Turnout: 60.2% ||||||||||||

### Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham

Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | SNP | Caroline Bamforth (incumbent) | 24.3% | 2,325 | | | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Paul Edlin | 21.1% | 2,016 | | | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Andrew Anderson | 19.1% | 1,831 | 1,938 | | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Jim McLean (incumbent) | 16.6% | 1,584 | 1,600 | 1,685 | 1,690 | 1,691 | 1,721 | 1,733 | 1,823 | 2,888 |
| | Conservative | Paul Smith | 11.2% | 1,067 | 1,070 | 1,082 | 1,083 | 1,087 | 1,106 | 1,113 | 1,154 | |
| | Scottish Green | Victoria Palmer-Dyer | 4.8% | 456 | 649 | 650 | 658 | 665 | 688 | 738 | | |
| | Alba | Amer Siddiqui | 1.3% | 120 | 146 | 147 | 147 | 152 | 164 | | | |
| | Scottish Family | Luke Reid | 1.2% | 119 | 123 | 123 | 124 | 133 | | | | |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Mark Niven Turnbull | 0.5% | 44 | 45 | 45 | 46 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 18,174 Valid: 9,562 Spoilt: 139 (1.4%) Quota: 1,913 Turnout: 53.1% |||||||||||||

## Aftermath

After this election, a minority coalition was formed with the five Labour councillors and the two Independent councillors, David Macdonald and Danny Devlin. The SNP accused Labour of a 'backroom deal' with the Conservatives.
On 4 July 2022, Macdonald left the coalition, and the council's administration. Responding to a query on social media, he said: "The agreement I reached with the Labour group leader for my support to install a minority Labour, Independent administration was not going to be delivered. I lost trust and confidence and for that reason I could not, in good faith, continue."
In April 2024, SNP councillor Annette Ireland resigned from the SNP group and became an Independent.