Elections to Dundee City Council were held on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the eight wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system (a form of proportional representation). A total of 29 Councillors were elected.
After the 2012 election a Scottish National Party (SNP) majority administration of 16 was formed. In 2017 the SNP lost 2 seats reducing their numbers to 14, being one seat short of an overall majority. They formed an administration with the support of the Independent Ian Borthwick.
Background
Previous election
At the previous election in 2012 the SNP took 16 seats and was able to form a majority administration. Labour were second with 10 and the remaining groups had 1 seat each. +PartySeatsVote shareSNP1643.4%Labour1030.1%Conservative111.3%Liberal Democrats19.0%Independent14.4% Source:
Composition Throughout the term of the previous council, there was minimal change in the composition of members. In January 2016, Craig Melville, who was an SNP councillor for Maryfield was suspended from the party, thereby taking the number of councillors the SNP had to 15. Melville later resigned as a councillor and a by-election took place which was won back by the SNP thus resulting in the SNP returning back to 16 seats for the remainder of the term. Party2012 term2017 resultElectionDissolutionSeats+/-SNP161614 2Labour10109 1Conservative113 2Liberal Democrats112 1Independent111
Retiring councillors Ahead of the election, seven councillors announced their retirement and would not stand for re-election, that included Bob Duncan who was Lord Provost and the council leader, Ken Guild. WardPartyRetiring councillorColdsideSNPJimmy BlackColdsideSNPDavid BowesEast EndLabourLesley BrennanLocheeSNPBob DuncanLocheeLabourNorma McGovernThe FerryLabourLaurie BidwellThe FerrySNPKen Guild
Results
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 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.
Votes summary +↓149321
Ward summary
|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats !rowspan=2|Total |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 |SNP !colspan=2 |Lab !colspan=2 |Conservative !colspan=2 |Lib Dems !colspan=2 |Independent !colspan=2 |Others |- |align="left"|Strathmartine |bgcolor="#efe146"|43.2% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |18.9% |1 |9.0% |0 |13.6% |0 |13.5% |1 |1.7% |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Lochee |bgcolor="#efe146"|42.7% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |29.3% |2 |12.1% |0 |2.1% |0 |9.7% |0 |4.1% |0 |4 |- |align="left"|West End |28.6% |1 |11.6% |1 |11.8% |1 |bgcolor="#FAA61A"|38.5% |bgcolor="#FAA61A"|1 |2.4% |0 |9.6% |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Coldside |bgcolor="#efe146"|44.2% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |27.9% |2 |11.0% |0 |2.8% |0 |8.6% |0 |5.6% |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Maryfield |bgcolor="#efe146"|49.4% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |21.6% |1 |17.6% |0 |5.3% |0
|6.1% |0 |3 |- |align="left"|North East |bgcolor="#efe146"|53.7% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |27.0% |1 |9.1% |0 |1.3% |0 |5.8% |0 |3.0% |0 |3 |- |align="left"|East End |bgcolor="#efe146"|53.3% |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |21.7% |1 |12.9% |0 |2.5% |0 |4.6% |0 |5.0% |0 |3 |- |align="left"|The Ferry |29.9% |1 |11.7% |0 |bgcolor="#0087DC"|38.9% |bgcolor="#0087DC"|2 |15.8% |1
|3.6% |0 |4 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !align="left"| Total |bgcolor="#efe146"|41.3% |bgcolor="#efe146"|14 !20.3% !9 !17.3% !3 !11.3% !2 !5.3% !1 !4.6% !0 !29
Ward results
Strathmartine 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2012-2017 Change: No Change
Lochee 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1x independent 2017: 2xSNP; 2xLab 2012-2017: Labour Gain from independent
West End 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xLab 2017: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from SNP
Coldside 2012: 2xSNP; 2xLab 2017: 2xSNP; 2xLab 2012-2017: No Change
Maryfield 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2012-2017: No change
North East 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2012-2017: No Change
East End 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2012-2017: No Change
The Ferry 2012: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab 2017: 2xCon; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP 2012-2017: Conservative & Lib Dem each gain one seat from Labour & SNP.
= Outgoing Councillor from a different ward.
Aftermath † In February 2019, North East Labour Cllr. Brian Gordon died after a short illness. A by-election took place on 2 May 2019 which was won by Steven Rome of the SNP. On 15 May 2019, North East SNP Cllr. Gregor Murray resigned from the party, accusing the party of being institutionally transphobic. Cllr. Murray continues to serve the ward as an Independent. On 11 May 2021, Lochee SNP Cllr Alan Ross resigned from the party and became an Independent. On 4 February 2022, he joined the Alba Party, becoming the first Alba councillor in Dundee.
North East by-election In February 2019, North East Labour Cllr. Brian Gordon died after a short illness. A by-election took place on 2 May 2019 which was won by Steven Rome of the SNP.
Notes
References