Stromness and South Isles is one of the six electoral wards of Orkney Islands Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 2,658 people.
Local politics in Orkney is traditionally non-partisan and the ward has never elected a councillor affiliated to a political party.
Boundaries The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Stromness and South Isles was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Stromness North and Stromness South, Graemsay and Hoy North wards as well as the majority of the former Orphir, Wells and Flotta ward and part of the former Sandwick and Stromness Landward ward. Stromness and South Isles covers the southwestern part of Mainland surrounding the town of Stromness as well as a number of islands in the southwest of the archipelago including Hoy, Flotta, Graemsay, Fara, Cava and Switha.
The ward's boundaries were unchanged following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections.
The ward's boundaries were also unchanged following the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, an interim review of island areas as a result of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.
Councillors ElectionCouncillors2007James StockanJohn EcclesIan Johnstone2012Rob CrichtonMaurice Davidson2017Magnus Thomson2022Graham BevanLindsay Hall2024 by-Janette Park
Election results 2024 by-election
2022 election
2017 election
2012 election
2007 election
References