Elections to South Lanarkshire Council took place on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

Quick Facts All 67 seats to South Lanarkshire Council 34 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 67 seats to South Lanarkshire Council 34 seats needed for a majority
Registered	241,187
Turnout	39.1%
First party Second party Third party   Lab SNP Con Leader Edward McAvoy Anne Maggs Hamish Stewart Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Rutherglen Central and North East Kilbride Central North Clydesdale East Last election 30 seats, 44.8% 24 seats, 35.8% 8 seats, 12.9% Seats won 33 28 2 Seat change 3 4 5 Popular vote 39,892 33,596 10,015 Percentage 43.2% 36.4% 10.8% Swing 3.6% 7.2% 2.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Ind Leader Graeme Campbell Robert Brown Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Avondale and Stonehouse Rutherglen South Last election 3 seats, 4.5% 2 seats, 7.2% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 2,734 2,544 Percentage 3.0% 2.8% Swing 2.2% 4.4%
Results by ward.
Council Leader before election Edward McAvoy (Labour) No overall control Council Leader after election Edward McAvoy (Labour) No overall control

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Labour retained their position as the largest party on the council as they gained three seat from 2007 but were one seat short of an overall majority. The Scottish National Party (SNP) also increased their representation and remained in second place on the authority after gaining four seats to hold 28. The Conservatives lost the majority of their seats as they fell from eight to three. One less independent candidate was elected with two returned and the remaining seat was won by the Liberal Democrats who lost one seat.

Labour initially formed a minority administration to run the council before, in February 2013, they took overall control of South Lanarkshire Council after winning a by-election from the SNP.^[1]

More information Party, Seats ...

2012 South Lanarkshire local election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	33	4	1	3	49.3	43.2	39,892	3.6
	SNP	28	4	0	4	41.7	36.4	33,596	7.2
	Conservative	3	0	5	5	4.5	10.8	10,015	2.1
	Independent	2	1	2	1	3.0	3.0	2,734	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	1	1	1.5	2.8	2,544	4.4
	Scottish Green	0	0	0		0.0	1.4	1,326	1.3
	East Kilbride Alliance	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	681	0.5
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.6	515	New
	Scottish Unionist	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	278	0.4
	Scottish Christian	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	230	0.2
	CPA	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	209	New
	Scottish Senior Citizens	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	199	New
	Solidarity	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	166
Total		67						92,385

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Source: ^[2]

Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils.^[3][4]