2022 Orkney Islands Council election

2022 Orkney Islands Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
21 seats to Orkney Islands Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader James Stockan[1] Steve Sankey & Helen Woodsford-Dean Party Independent Scottish Green Leader's seat Stromness and South Isles East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray & contested West Mainland Last election 18 seats, 83.5% 1 seat, 4.5% Seats before 18 1 Seats won 19 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 7,337 1,256 Percentage 85.4% 14.6% Swing 1.9pp 9.9pp
Results by wards by partisanship. Results by wards, showing whether the incumbent candidate was re-elected, defeated, or retired
Council Leader before election James Stockan Independent Council Leader after election James Stockan Independent

Elections to the Orkney Islands Council were held on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 21 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.^[2]

Ward boundaries differ slightly from previous elections, with minor changes being made to the two Kirkwall wards, as well as the boundary nearest Kirkwall in East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray.^[3]

At the previous election in 2017, independent councillors won the most seats and ran the council.

Background

Composition

There were no official changes to the political composition of the council in the preceding term. However, independent councillor John Ross Scott did announce he had joined the Greens in 2021, which did not change his affiliation on the council.^[4] One by-election was held and resulted in an independent hold.^[5]

Retiring councillors

Boundary changes

Following the passing of the

Election result

2022 Orkney local election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	19	2	1	1	90.5	85.4	7,337	2.2
	Scottish Green	2	2	1	1	9.5	14.6	1,256	9.9

Ward summary

Results of the 2022 Orkney Islands Council election
by ward

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	Ind		Green
Kirkwall East	71.9	3	28.1	1	4
Kirkwall West and Orphir	86.3	3	13.7	1	4
Stromness and South Isles	86.3	3	13.7	0	3
West Mainland	88.2	4	11.8	0	4
East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray	85.5	3	14.5	0	3
North Isles	100	3			3
Total	85.4	19	14.6	2	21

Ward results

Kirkwall East

Kirkwall East - 4 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Scottish Green	John Ross Scott (incumbent)	28.10%	476
	Independent	Steven Heddle (incumbent)	25.27%	428
	Independent	Gwenda Shearer (incumbent)	24.38%	413
	Independent	David Dawson (incumbent)	16.82%	285	340.5
	Independent	Graham MacDonald	5.43%	92	134.0
Electorate: 3,700   Valid: 1,694   Spoilt: 6   Quota: 339   Turnout: 45.9%

Kirkwall West and Orphir

Kirkwall West and Orphir - 4 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Independent	Leslie Manson (incumbent)	20.7%	320
	Independent	Ivan Taylor	16.3%	252	254.7	254.7	284.8	345.8
	Independent	Sandy Cowie (incumbent)	16.2%	250	252.6	254.6	290.7	357.0
	Scottish Green	Kristopher Leask	13.7%	211	211.7	213.7	233.8	258.0	267.6	274.5	347.3
	Independent	Leslie Sinclair	11.3%	175	176.0	184.0	199.1	217.4	232.0	244.1
	Independent	Beverly Clubley	10.3%	159	159.8	160.8
	Independent	Barbara Foulkes (incumbent)	10.0%	155	157.8	161.8	189.1
	Independent	Cameron Whittle	1.4%	21	21
Electorate: 3,630   Valid: 1,543   Spoilt: 10   Quota: 309   Turnout: 1,553 (42.8%)

Stromness and South Isles

Stromness and South Isles - 3 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	James Stockan (incumbent)	30.7%	353
	Independent	Graham Bevan	24.4%	281	305.5
	Independent	Lindsay Hall	15.2%	175	180.3	182.8	205.0	262.2	354.8
	Scottish Green	Maia Brodie	13.7%	157	160.5	162.1	169.3
	Independent	Rob Crichton (incumbent)	10%	115	135.8	144.3	174.2	220.9
	Independent	Magnus Thomson (incumbent)	6%	69	75.6	77.9
Electorate: 2,233   Valid: 1,150   Spoilt: 7   Quota: 288   Turnout: 1,157 (51.8%)

West Mainland

West Mainland - 4 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	Owen Tierney (incumbent)	30.2%	554
	Independent	Rachael Anne King (incumbent)	26.0%	477
	Independent	Jean Stevenson	15.5%	284	352.5	401.6
	Independent	Duncan Tullock (incumbent)	12.9%	237	313.6	338.3	354.7	383.7
	Scottish Green	Helen Woodsford-Dean	11.8%	217	226.1	242.9	248.2	276.6
	Independent	Sean Lewis	3.5%	64	71.1	78.7	83.1
Electorate: 3,663   Valid: 1,833   Spoilt: 18   Quota: 367   Turnout: 1,851 (50.9%)

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray - 3 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	Raymie Peace	47.8%	642
	Independent	Gillian Skuse	20.7%	278	380.6
	Scottish Green	Eric Page	14.5%	195	216.4	223.6	252.0
	Independent	Julie Rickards	8.8%	118	165.5	185.1
	Independent	James Moar	8.3%	111	205.5	214.3	284.3	378.2
Electorate: 2,664   Valid: 1,344   Spoilt: 7   Quota: 337   Turnout: 1,351 (50.7%)

North Isles

North Isles - 3 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent	Heather Woodbridge (Incumbent)	43.1%	443
	Independent	Stephen Clackson (incumbent)	24.9%	256	314.9
	Independent	Mellissa Thomson	19.8%	204	268.3
	Independent	Paul Rendall	7.4%	76	113.6
	Independent	Sebastian Hadfield-Hyde	4.9%	50	55.4
Electorate: 1,853   Valid: 1,029   Spoilt: 10   Quota: 258   Turnout: 1,039 (56.1%)

References