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1994 Scottish regional elections

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1994 Scottish regional elections

← 1992 5 May 1994 (1994-05-05) 1995 →

453 councillors on 12 Regional Councils in Scotland
Turnout45.6%
  First party Second party
 
Leader John Smith Alex Salmond
Party Labour SNP
Leader since 18 July 1992 22 September 1990
Seats won 220 73
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 31
Percentage 41.8% 26.8%
Swing Decrease 2.2% Increase 5.0%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Jim Wallace John Major
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative
Leader since 18 April 1992 28 November 1990
Seats won 60 31
Seat change Increase 20 Decrease 21
Percentage 12.2% 13.7%
Swing Increase 4.2% Decrease 5.5%

Colours denote the winning party with outright control

Results by ward

The 1994 Scottish regional elections were held in Scotland on 5 May 1994, as part of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These were the last elections before 29 new mainland unitary authorities, established by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, came into effect. The councils up for election were last contested in 1990 Scottish regional elections, and vote and seat changes are compared to the 1990 results.

Overview

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Background

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As these were the last elections to the Regional Councils, which were to be abolished within the next two years, the election was seen as a somewhat pointless exercise as the elected representatives would have minimal time to introduce any policies before powers were transferred to the new unitary authorities. Nevertheless, voters still saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate the popularity of John Major's incumbent Tory Government, which saw the Conservatives lose 21 seats, and be replaced by the Liberal Democrats as third largest party by number of seats.[1]

Outcome

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A record number of 1522 candidates stood for election across Scotland, including a new high of 341 women candidates. Turnout stayed almost the same from 1990 at 45.6%, a decrease of 0.3%. The Conservatives' vote share decreased by 5.8%, to give them their worst ever performance at a local election, with only 13.7% of the vote. Labour retained their position as the largest party, down slightly from the previous election. The SNP made large gains of almost 5.0%, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives, as did the Liberal Democrats, who increased their vote share by 4.2%. Independent candidates won the most votes in the Highland, Border and Dumfries & Galloway regions, despite having lost up to 9% of the vote in some areas.

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Labour held Strathclyde, Lothian, Central and Fife Regions, while Independents took a majority on Orkney, Shetland, Highland and the Western Isles councils, as well as taking the most seats on Borders and Dumfries and Galloway councils. As in 1990, no party won a majority on Tayside and Grampian councils, with the SNP overtaking Labour to be the largest party on the former, and the Liberal Democrats winning a plurality of seats on the latter.

National results

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Summary of the 5 May 1994 Scottish council election results[1][2]
Parties votes % Seats
Labour 704,604 41.8 220
SNP 458,951 26.8 73
Conservative 234,840 13.7 31
Liberal Democrats 208,349 12.2 60
Independent 80,092 4.2 65
Independent Labour 4,064 1
Communist 1,839 1
Ind. Lib Dem 885 1
Liberal[note 1] 0 1
Scottish Militant Labour 11,476 0.7 0
People Pension Power 313 0
Monster Raving Loony 185 0
Natural Law 124 0
Ind. Conservative 97 0
SDP 82 0
James Connolly Society 76 0
Doctor Slug Party 43 0
Scottish Republican Socialist 38 0
Scottish Christian Democratic 32 0
Total 1,706,090 45.1 453

Results by council area

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Council 1990 result 1994 result Turnout Details
Borders Independent No overall control 42 Details
Central Labour Labour 49.7 Details
Dumfries and Galloway Independent No overall control 47.9 Details
Fife Labour Labour 45.7 Details
Grampian No overall control No overall control 41.6 Details
Highland Independent Independent 45.3 Details
Lothian Labour Labour 47.8 Details
Orkney Independent Independent Details
Shetland Independent Independent Details
Strathclyde Labour Labour 44.4 Details
Tayside No overall control No overall control 45.5 Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) Independent Independent Details

Notes

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  1. ^ The Liberal candidate was elected unopposed

References

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  1. ^ a b "Scottish Regional Elections 1994" (PDF).
  2. ^ Denver, David; Bochel, Hugh (Winter 2000), "The Forgotten Elections: The Scottish Council Elections of 1999", Scottish Affairs (PDF), vol. 30, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2011, retrieved 16 July 2011