1978 Shetland Islands Council election

1978 Shetland Islands Council election

←  1974 May 2, 1978 (1978-05-02) 1982 →
All 25 seats to Shetland Islands Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader A.I. Tulloch Party Independent Labour Leader's seat Aithsting and Sandsting Last election 18 4 Seats won 21 4 Seat change 3 0 Popular vote 4,039 941 Percentage 81.1% 18.9% Swing 8.7% 8.7%
Council Convener before election A.I. Tulloch Independent Council Convener after election A.I. Tulloch Independent

Elections to the Shetland Islands Council were held on 2 May 1978 as part of Scottish regional elections, with 11 seats uncontested. The election saw 14 new councillors enter the Shetland Islands Council, an unusually large number, in part attributable to the charged political context surrounding the devolution debate of the late 1970s.^[1] Several of these incomers consisted of members of the pro-autonomy Shetland Group, later to become the Shetland Movement, and local Scottish National Party branch, registered as independents.^[2]

Aggregate results

Shetland Islands Council election, 1990

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	21	3	0	3	88.0	81.1	4,039	8.7
	Labour	4	0	0	0	12.0	18.9	941	8.7

Ward Results

Aithsting and Sandsting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A.I. Tulloch (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Bressay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Irvine (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Burra and Trondra

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Arthur Williamson	174	51.8%
	Independent	William Cumming (Incumbent)	162	48.2%
Majority			12	3.6%
	Independent hold

Delting North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Fraser Peterson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Delting South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Albert Hunter	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Dunrossness North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Tait	166	64.1%
	Independent	Prophet Smith (Incumbent)	93	35.9%
Majority			73	28.2%
	Independent hold

Dunrossness South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Raymond Bentley	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Gulberwick, Quarff and Cunningsburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Joan McLeod (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Lerwick Breiwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Butler (Incumbent)	194	53.4%
	Independent	Harry Gray	169	46.6%
Majority			25	7.8%
	Labour hold

Lerwick Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Bill Smith (Incumbent)	273	78.9%
	Independent	James Wiseman	73	21.1%
Majority			200	57.8%
	Independent

Lerwick Clickimin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Ian Byrne (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Lerwick Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Edward Thomason (Incumbent)	241	81.4%
	Independent	William Christie	55	18.6%
Majority			186	62.8%
	Independent hold

Lerwick North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Alex Morrison (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Labour hold

Lerwick Sound

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Lindsay Smith	141	38.0%
	Independent	Robert Brandie	98	26.4%
	Independent	James Gair	61	16.4%
	Independent	Donald Briers	38	10.2%
	Independent	Donald Sutherland	33	8.9%
Majority			43	11.6%
	Independent hold

Lerwick Twageos

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Sandy Cluness	289	64.8%
	Labour	James Paton (Incumbent)	157	35.2%
Majority			132	29.6%
	Independent gain from Labour

Nesting and Lunnasting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Peter Hunter	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Northmavine

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Chris Dowle	317	80.3%
	Independent	John Jamieson (Incumbent)	78	19.7%
Majority			239	50.7%
	Independent

Sandness and Walls

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Gordon Walterson	228	57.4%
	Independent	Williamina Tait (Incumbent)	169	42.6%
Majority			59	14.8%
	Independent hold

Sandwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Peter Watts	163	56.6%
	Independent	T.M.Y. Manson	125	43.4%
Majority			59	13.2%
	Independent hold

Scalloway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Jemima Walterson	263	63.4%
	Independent	Andrew Irvine (Incumbent)	123	29.6%
	Independent	James Watt	29	7.0%
Majority			140	33.8%
	Independent hold

Unst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Playfair	181	50.7%
	Independent	Alan Fraser (Incumbent)	176	49.3%
Majority			5	1.4%
	Independent hold

Whalsay and Skerries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Henry Stewart	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Whiteness, Weisdale and Tingwall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Florence Grains	169	40.2%
	Independent	Alexander Arthur	154	36.7%
	Independent	John Rae	97	23.1%
Majority			15	3.5%
	Independent hold

Yell North and Fetlar

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Johnson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Yell South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Stewart Gray (Incumbent)	146	50.2%
	Independent	Frank Odie	145	49.8%
Majority			1	0.4%
	Independent hold

By-elections since 1978

1980 Lerwick North by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ratepayers	Robert Tulloch	261	71.9%
	Independent	John Groat	75	20.7%
	Independent	James Wiseman	27	7.4%
Majority			186	51.2%
	Independent

The 1981 Burra and Trondra by-election was triggered by the resignation of Arthur Williamson. It was won by former councillor William Cumming, a member of the pro-autonomy Shetland Movement, as an independent candidate.^[3]

1981 Burra and Trondra by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Cumming	306	68.3%
	Ratepayers	Tom Stove	133	29.7%
	Independent	James Wiseman	9	2.0%
Majority			178	38.6%
	Independent hold

References