# 2017 Orkney Islands Council election

The 2017 Orkney Islands Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of Orkney Islands 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.
The Scottish Greens contested 2 wards in Orkney for the first time. Another group; the Orkney Manifesto Group, ran as a registered party for the first time, gaining the largest vote share of any party in the council's history. The OMG advocates the politicisation of the Orkney Islands Council, however is unaffiliated to any national party. The group has a Liberal-Left political outlook.

## Election result

Orkney Local Election Result 2017 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Independent | 18 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 85.7 | 83.20 | 6,162 | -11.2 |
| Orkney Manifesto Group | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2* | 9.5 | 12.07 | 894 | N/A |
| Scottish Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.8 | 4.73 | 350 | New |
*The OMG councillors had been previously elected as Independents. 2017 was the first election they stood under the OMG slate.

## Ward results
### Kirkwall East

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2017: 4xIndependent
* 2012–2017 change: No change
Kirkwall East - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Independent | Steven Heddle (incumbent) | 29.13 | 474 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Gwenda Shearer (incumbent) | 21.14 | 344 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Ross Scott | 17.89 | 291 | 328.8 | | | | | |
| | Independent | David Dawson | 15.73 | 256 | 294.1 | 299.4 | 300.1 | 302.2 | 322.8 | 356.7 |
| | Independent | Rikki Lidderdale | 6.95 | 113 | 139.9 | 143.7 | 144.3 | 146.4 | 165.5 | 188.7 |
| | Independent | Ingrid Windwick Jolly | 4.61 | 75 | 90.0 | 92.6 | 93.0 | 96.4 | 116.4 | |
| | Independent | Mike Berston | 3.69 | 60 | 75.6 | 78.3 | 78.6 | 80.7 | | |
| | Independent | Paul Dawson | 0.86 | 14 | 15.9 | 16.1 | 16.3 | | | |
| Electorate: 3,470 Valid: 1,627 Spoilt: 14 Quota: 326 Turnout: 1,641 (47.3%) |||||||||||

### Kirkwall West & Orphir

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2017: 3xIndependent; 1xOMG
* 2012–2017 change: 1 OMG gain from Independent
Kirkwall West & Orphir - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Independent | Leslie Manson (incumbent) | 44.64 | 646 | | | | | | |
| | Orkney Manifesto Group | John Richards (incumbent) | 23.01 | 333 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Sandy Cowie | 11.06 | 160 | 244.9 | 255.8 | 257.2 | 283.0 | 283.1 | 356.1 |
| | Independent | Barbara Foulkes | 10.37 | 150 | 256.4 | 267.3 | 269.4 | 290.2 | | |
| | Independent | Barbara Leslie | 7.53 | 109 | 152.5 | 158.6 | 161.8 | 177.2 | 177.2 | |
| | Independent | Alastair Macleod | 2.70 | 39 | 83.6 | 88.0 | 93.6 | | | |
| | Independent | Max Thomas | 0.69 | 10 | 16.6 | 17.8 | | | | |
| Electorate: 3,466 Valid: 1,447 Spoilt: 19 Quota: 290 Turnout: 1,466 (42.3%) |||||||||||

### Stromness and South Isles

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2017: 3xIndependent
* 2012–2017 change: No change
Stromness and South Isles - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Independent | Rob Crichton (incumbent) | unopposed | unopposed |
| | Independent | James Stockan (incumbent) | unopposed | unopposed |
| | Independent | Magnus Thomson | unopposed | unopposed |
| Quota: |||||

### West Mainland

* 2007: 4xIndependent
* 2012: 4xIndependent
* 2017: 3xIndependent, 1xOMG
* 2012–2017 change: 1 OMG gain from Independent
West Mainland - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Orkney Manifesto Group | Rachael King (incumbent) | 30.61 | 561 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Harvey Johnston (incumbent) | 29.24 | 536 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Owen Tierney (incumbent) | 20.19 | 370 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Duncan Allan Tullock | 10.42 | 191 | 245.3 | 327.6 | 328.8 | 344.5 | 369.9 |
| | Independent | Jo Jones | 3.82 | 70 | 106.3 | 130.9 | 131.3 | 143.0 | 170.6 |
| | Scottish Green | Helen Woodsford-Dean | 3.60 | 66 | 95.4 | 104.5 | 104.8 | 114.8 | |
| | Independent | Sean Michael Lewis | 2.13 | 39 | 51.4 | 60.0 | 60.2 | | |
| Electorate: 3,538 Valid: 1,833 Spoilt: 14 Quota: 367 Turnout: 1,847 (52.2%) ||||||||||

### East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2017: 2xIndependent, 1xGreen
* 2012–2017 change: 1 Green gain from Independent
East Mainland, South Ronaldsay & Burray - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Independent | Andrew Drever (incumbent) | 35.74 | 509 | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Steve Sankey | 19.94 | 284 | 301.9 | 383.4 | |
| | Independent | Norman Rae Craigie | 16.71 | 238 | 281.9 | 354.2 | 362.6 |
| | Independent | John Stanley Groundwater | 14.12 | 201 | 229.4 | | |
| | Independent | Jim Foubister (incumbent) | 13.48 | 192 | 231.4 | 265.4 | 269.6 |
| Electorate: 2,725 Valid: 1,424 Spoilt: 12 Quota: 357 Turnout: 1,436 (52.7%) ||||||||

### North Isles

* 2007: 3xIndependent
* 2012: 3xIndependent
* 2017: 3xIndependent
* 2012–2017 change: No change
North Isles - 3 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 | Graham Sinclair (incumbent) | 26.98 | 290 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Kevin Woodbridge† | 23.81 | 256 | 261.4 | 274.5 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Stephen Clackson (incumbent) | 18.33 | 197 | 200.6 | 207.9 | 209.0 | 219.4 | 231.5 | 247.1 | 321.9 |
| | Independent | Stuart Roy McIvor | 10.98 | 118 | 120.5 | 124.6 | 125.6 | 132.7 | 143.2 | 168.2 | |
| | Independent | Ralph Stevenson | 6.51 | 70 | 72.9 | 77.2 | 78.1 | 92.4 | 121.7 | | |
| | Independent | Simon Tarry | 6.51 | 70 | 72.8 | 72.9 | 73.5 | 78.6 | | | |
| | Independent | George Arthur Mowat-Brown | 3.35 | 39 | 39.5 | 40.6 | 41.1 | | | | |
| | Independent | Billy Muir | 3.26 | 35 | 36.1 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 1,840 Valid: 1,075 Spoilt: 5 Quota: 269 Turnout: 1,080 (58.7%) ||||||||||||

## Changes since 2017 Election

* † North Isles Independent Cllr Kevin Woodbridge died on 19 April 2020 after a short illness. A by-election was held on 1 October 2020 and was won by Kevin Woodbridge's daughter, Heather Woodbridge.

### By-elections since 2017

North Isles By-election (1 October 2020) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Independent | Heather Woodbridge | 69.9 | 638 |
| | Labour | Coilla Drake | 17.3 | 158 |
| | Independent | Claire Stevens | 8.2 | 75 |
| | Independent | Daniel Adams | 4.6 | 42 |
| Quota: Turnout: 732 (31.0%) |||||

## Footnotes

* ↑ Kirkwall councillor to stand down at end of OIC term
* ↑ "Orkney Manifesto Group | POLICY STATEMENTS".
* ↑ "Results by Ward".
* ↑ "SLGE2017 Summary Results Data - Electoral Management Board". Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
* ↑ "Ward 1 - Kirkwall East".
* ↑ "Ward 2 - Kirkwall West and Orphir".
* ↑ "Ward 3 - Stromness and South Isles".
* ↑ "Ward 4 - West Mainland".
* ↑ "Ward 5 - East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray".
* ↑ "Ward 6 - North Isles".
* ↑ "Tributes paid to North Isles councillor Kevin Woodbridge". 20 April 2020.
* ↑ "Heather Woodbridge wins North Isles council seat". The Orcadian. Retrieved 15 January 2022.