The elections to the City of Edinburgh Council were held on Thursday 4 May 2017, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland.^[1] It was the third successive Local Council election to run under the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system.

Quick Facts All 63 seats to City of Edinburgh Council 32 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2017 City of Edinburgh Council election

← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →
All 63 seats to City of Edinburgh Council 32 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	50.5% (7.9%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adam McVey Cameron Rose Cammy Day Party SNP Conservative Labour Leader's seat Leith Southside /Newington Forth Last election 18 seats, 26.87% 11 seats, 19.75% 20 seats, 28.13% Seats before 17 11 21 Seats after 19 18 12 Seat change 1 7 8 Popular vote 49,994 51,212 33,916 Percentage 27.1% 27.7% 18.4% Swing 0.2% 8.8% 9.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Steve Burgess Party Scottish Green Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Southside /Newington Corstorphine /Murrayfield Last election 6 seats, 11.44% 3 seats, 9.34% Seats before 5 2 Seats after 8 6 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 22,907 25,154 Percentage 12.4% 13.6% Swing 1.0% 4.3%
Overall Result SNP vote share by wards Conservative vote share by wards Labour vote share by wards Green vote share by wards Liberal Democrats share by wards Election result by council wards
Leader of the Council before election Andrew Burns Labour Leader of the Council after election Adam McVey SNP

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The election saw the SNP become the largest party on the council for the first time, whilst the Conservative party overcame Labour to become the second largest party. Following the election Leith councillor Adam McVey took over control of the SNP group from Frank Ross. Conservative group leader Cameron Rose was similarly replaced by Iain Whyte. The Labour group elected Cammy Day as their leader.^[2]

The Labour-SNP administration formed in 2012 lost their majority however were able to continue in office in a minority administration, with Labour now being the junior partner to the SNP.

Following the implementation of changes recommended by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland the number of councillors to be elected was increased from 58 to 63. This was also the first election contested on new boundaries since the 2007 election. While the number of wards remained at 17, five wards:

elected four councillors instead of three.

The fourth placed and losing candidate in four wards was SNP and one ward a Lib Dem. In a re-run of the 2017 election the boundary changes would have likely lead to an increase of +4 SNP Councillors and +1 Liberal Democrat.

The Meadows/Morningside ward was also renamed as Morningside.^[3][4]

• † On 20 February 2018, Leith Walk SNP councillor Lewis Ritchie resigned from the party and became an Independent, following complaints about his behaviour arising out of allegedly punching someone in a taxi.^[7]
• †† On 23 April 2018, Inverleith SNP councillor Gavin Barrie resigned from the party and became an Independent, after losing his position in the ruling administration as Economy Convener, following a vote at the SNP group AGM.^[8]
• ††† On 4 July 2018, Sighthill/Gorgie Conservative councillor Ashley Graczyk resigned from the party and became an Independent, saying the UK government’s policies on disability issues and social justice are “incompatible with her beliefs and conscience”.^[9]
• †††† On 17 July 2018, Drum Brae/Gyle SNP councillor Claire Bridgman resigned from the party for undisclosed reasons and became an Independent.^[10]
• ††††† On 28 January 2019, Leith Walk Labour councillor Marion Donaldson announced she was resigning from the Council citing reports of internal party tensions. A by-election was held on 11 April 2019 and was won by Robb Munn of the SNP.^[11][12][13]
• †††††† On 21 February 2020, SNP Craigentinny/Duddingston councillor Ian Campbell stood down due to health reasons. A by-election was held on 12 November 2020 and was won by the SNP's Ethan Young.^[14]
• ††††††† On 30 July 2020, SNP Liberton/Gilmerton councillor Derek Howie resigned from the SNP Group to become an Independent.^[15]

† Originally elected as a Liberal Democrat candidate.
†† Originally elected as a Scottish National Party candidate.