Elections to the City of Edinburgh Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the 2012 Scottish local elections. The election was the second using 17 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward elected three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation system of election.

Quick Facts All 58 seats to City of Edinburgh Council 30 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

2012 City of Edinburgh Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 58 seats to City of Edinburgh Council 30 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Andrew Burns Steve Cardownie Jeremy Balfour Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat [[Fountainbridge /Craiglockhart]] Forth Corstorphine /Murrayfield Last election 15 seats, 22.93% 12 seats, 20.32% 11 seats, 22.08% Seats before 15 13 11 Seats won 20 18 11 Seat change 5 6 0 Popular vote 39,286 37,537 27,588 Percentage 28.13% 26.87% 19.75% Swing 5.45% 6.55% 2.33%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Maggie Chapman  and Steve Burgess Paul Edie Party Scottish Green Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Leith Walk, Southside /Newington Corstorphine /Murrayfield Last election 3 seats, 8.23% 17 seats, 21.99% Seats before 3 17 Seats won 6 3 Seat change 3 14 Popular vote 15,978 13,040 Percentage 11.44% 9.34% Swing 3.21% 12.65%
Map of council wards
Leader of the Council before election Jenny Dawe defeated Liberal Democrats Leader of the council after election Andrew Burns Labour

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The main feature of the elections was the near obliteration of the Scottish Liberal Democrats as they collapsed from 17 seats on the city council to just 3, which saw them occupying the position as the smallest party. Their leader, and the leader of the council, Jenny Dawe, lost her seat in Meadows/Morningside, epitomising the poor performance. Scottish Labour replaced the Lib Dems as the largest party as they made 5 gains, winning 20 seats in total. The Scottish National Party became the second largest party, gaining 6 seats and 18 seats in total. The Scottish Conservatives retained 11 seats on the council while the Scottish Greens doubled their seat numbers to 6.

After the election a coalition was formed between the Labour Party and the SNP. This replaced the previous Lib Dem – SNP Coalition which had existed from 2007 to 2012.

More information Party, Seats ...

2012 City of Edinburgh Council election
Electorate: 331,954
Turnout: 141,552 (42.6%)
Total Valid: 139,684^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	20	6	1	5	34.48	28.13	39,286	5.45
	SNP	18	6	0	6	31.03	26.87	37,537	6.55
	Conservative	11	1	1	0	18.97	19.75	27,588	2.33
	Scottish Green	6	3	0	3	10.34	11.44	15,978	3.21
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	14	14	5.17	9.34	13,040	12.65
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.84	2,565	New
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.34	480	New
	TUSC	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.33	463	New
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.26	368	New
	Scottish Socialist	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.16	228	New
	Pirate	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.14	195	New

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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.

• † Liberton/Gilmerton SNP councillor Tom Buchanan died on 3 April 2013. A by-election was held on 20 June 2013 and was won by Labour's Keith John Robson.^[2]
• †† Craigentinny/Duddingston Labour councillor Alex Dunn defected from the Labour Party and joined the SNP on 4 December 2013.^[3]
• ††† On 1 March 2014 Southside/Newington SNP councillor Jim Orr resigned from the party and became an Independent citing disillusionment with internal political spats.^[4]
• †††† Leith Walk SNP councillor Deidre Brock was elected as an MP for Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency) on 7 May 2015 and resigned her Council seat on 24 June 2015.^[5] Leith Walk Green councillor Maggie Chapman resigned her seat on 30 June 2015 to focus her efforts on winning a Scottish Parliament seat in North East Scotland.^[6] A by-election for both seats was held on 10 September 2015, Lewis Ritchie defending the SNP seat and Labour's Marion Donaldson taking the other.^[7]
• †††††† Almond Liberal Democrat councillor Alastair Shields resigned from the party and became an Independent after having been de-selected. He originally indicated that he would contest the 2017 local elections as an Independent, but ruled this out in October 2016.^[8][9]