London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 25, 2026

Scottish council elections 2022: SNP finishes as biggest party

Scottish council elections 2022: SNP finishes as biggest party

The SNP has again finished as the biggest party in the Scottish council elections - with Labour finishing second after the Conservatives suffered big losses.

The SNP secured an overall majority in Dundee, while Labour won control of West Dunbartonshire.

But the Conservatives lost more than 60 councillors across the country.

Party leader Douglas Ross said he believed public anger over Partygate had played a big part.

More than 1,200 councillors have been elected across the country's 32 councils.

Each council is divided into smaller areas known as wards, with every ward electing up to five councillors.

The SNP recorded strong results in many areas of the country, increasing its total number of councillors by 22 to 453.

The party won 15 of the 29 seats to take control of Dundee and gained four seats in neighbouring Angus to become the largest party from Labour.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, the country's first minister, said the result was a "quite incredible outcome" for her party after 15 years in government.

She added: "We have not only won the election - an eighth consecutive election victory since I've been leader - but won it overwhelmingly.

"We have increased our share of the vote and the number of councillors we have and I think we're going to be the largest party in more councils than before."

Labour - which finished third behind the SNP and Conservatives in 2017 - picked up an additional 20 seats and finished well ahead of the Tories on 282 seats to 214.

The party won an overall majority in West Dunbartonshire, where the SNP had previously been the largest party and had formed the administration, after returning 12 councillors - four more than previously.

No party held a majority in any local authority area in Scotland after the last election.

Labour had been aiming to overtake the SNP as the largest party in Glasgow after picking up seats in the early results, but fell one seat short - with the SNP on 37 and Labour 36.

Leader Anas Sarwar said the results were the best Scottish Labour had seen in a decade, with his party finishing the day "comfortably" in second place across Scotland as a whole.

The Conservatives finished second last time - but finished well behind Labour in third place this time


But the Conservatives lost 63 seats, with their share of the vote falling by more than 10% in several wards.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he was "deeply disappointed" by the results, which he said had seen the public send a clear message that "they are not happy with the prime minister, they are not happy with partygate".

He refused to call for Boris Johnson to resign, saying the situation in Ukraine called for stability in the UK government.

There was better news for the Conservatives in Moray, where they gained three seats to overtake the SNP as the largest party.


We've got used to the SNP winning elections in Scotland. In this contest they continue to resist electoral gravity. The party has seats and has won an 11th successive national victory.

They are not the only party with something to celebrate. After years of decline, Labour has also made gains including taking overall control of West Dunbartonshire council.

Labour has regained second place from the Conservatives, who have suffered significant losses and seem to be taking a bigger hit in Scotland than England.

Some Scottish Tories are blaming Boris Johnson and partygate, with others highlighting the Scottish party leader, Douglas Ross's flip-flop over whether the PM should resign.

The Liberal Democrats have also picked up seats as have the Greens who seem to have benefited from their power-sharing deal with the SNP in the Scottish government.

The Scottish Greens won their first seat in the Scottish Borders and almost doubled their total number of councillors across the country to 35.

Green candidate Holly Bruce finished first in the ward of the SNP's Susan Aitken, who was the Glasgow City Council leader - although Ms Aitken was also elected after finishing with the second-highest number of first preference votes.

The Liberal Democrats also done better than expected, winning an additional 20 seats across the country to take their total to 87, but Alex Salmond's Alba Party failed to have any of its candidates elected.

Meanwhile, the SNP's Susan Thomson and Frances Murray were elected the Western Isles' first female councillors since 2012.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party's result was its best in a decade


Although the number of councillors elected for each party is now known, it will probably be next week before it becomes clear who will have control over most councils.

This is because in many councils no party has won a majority of seats and so groups of councillors will work together to form coalitions. It can take a few days for these arrangements to be made.

Local elections were also held in England and Wales on Thursday, and voters in Northern Ireland were being asked to elect their next government.


Council election results 'incredible outcome', say Sturgeon


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Police Arrest Far-Right Activist After Migrant Dinghy Slashed in English Channel
Synthetic Opioids Drive Renewed Rise in Scotland’s Drug Deaths
Reported Assaults on Britain’s Railways Rise 20% in a Year
Vistry Cuts Profit Forecast as Losses Weigh on UK Housebuilder
TikTok Drops Appeal and Accepts £12.7 Million UK Data Protection Fine
Russell Group Urges UK Government to Drop Proposed International Student Levy
Legal & General Plans to Cut 1,000 Jobs by Mid-2027
UK Health Bill Would Remove Independent Governors From NHS Foundation Trusts
BMA Raises Patient Safety Concerns Over Advanced Practitioners Filling Doctor Rotas
UK’s Largest AI Supercomputer Delayed by Power Supply Constraints
NHS Orders Security Cameras in Neonatal Units Following Thirlwall Inquiry
Post-Brexit Trade Barriers Cost UK Economy Up to £6.5 Billion a Year, Analysis Says
UK Parliament Launches Inquiry Into Bank of England Monetary Policy Independence
Global Bond Selloff and Higher Oil Prices Narrow UK Budget Options
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Addresses UN and Holds First Meeting With Donald Trump
Royal Navy Commandos Complete Maritime Operations Training With US Navy SEALs
Vistry Profit Warning Adds to Concerns Over UK Housebuilding Conditions
UK Commits £343 Million to Major Expansion of Community Mental Health Services
Five Eyes Partners Back UK-Led Campaign Against Global Fraud Networks
UK Businesses Gain Full Access to £13 Trillion CPTPP Trading Bloc
UK Allocates Nearly £10 Billion for Council, Social and Affordable Housing
Chancellor John Healey Unveils Deregulation Drive to Accelerate UK Investment and Growth
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Sets Out Post-Brexit Foreign Policy Vision at United Nations
UK Reassesses Chagos Arrangements as Burnham Seeks New Path on Diego Garcia
Key Trends to Watch
Government’s “Buy British” Procurement Push Targets More Domestic Jobs and Industrial Capacity
Scotland Launches Four-Year Flood Resilience Programme With New Community Funding
Low-Income Renters Face Record Gap Between Housing Support and Private Rents
UK and US Test Torpedo Launch From British Undersea Drone in Defence Technology Milestone
Britain Pushes Artificial Intelligence Security Onto United Nations Security Council Agenda
Treasury Committee Defends Office for Budget Responsibility Independence Amid Fiscal Pressure
Scotland Records Eleven Per Cent Rise in Drug-Use Deaths as Cocaine and Nitazenes Drive Concern
Welsh Government Sets Four-Year Programme Around Health, Living Costs, Jobs and Housing
Study Finds Most People With High Blood Pressure in England Remain Undiagnosed
Britain Plans First National Workplace Health System to Tackle Economic Inactivity
England to Introduce Vocational GCSEs in Major Secondary Education Reform
UK Elevates Climate and Nature Risks to National Security Priority
Andy Burnham and Donald Trump Put Trade at Centre of First Major Bilateral Meeting
Andy Burnham and Ursula von der Leyen Push Ahead With Closer UK-European Union Economic Ties
UK Government Borrowing Jumps to Eighteen Point Three Billion Pounds Ahead of October Budget
Piddington Residents Back Symbolic Independence Vote Over Asylum Accommodation Plan
Reform UK Names Helen Jenner as New Leader in Wales
England Expands Devolution of Transport, Skills and Economic Development Powers
Liberal Democrats Call for Temporary Fuel Duty Cut to Ease Cost-of-Living Pressure
UK Farmers Warn Drought Has Caused Crop Failures and Reduced Harvests
UK Fixed Mortgage Rates Approach 6% as Lenders Raise Borrowing Costs
YouGov Poll Puts Labour at 23% With Conservatives and Reform UK on 21%
Badenoch Presses Burnham to Increase Defence Spending and Cut Welfare Costs
UK Military Figures Warn of Growing Threats to Undersea Infrastructure and National Readiness
BP Moves Ahead With Sale of UK North Sea Oil and Gas Business
×