2022 Glasgow City Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 85 seats to Glasgow City Council 43 seats needed for a majority
Registered	464,091
Turnout	38.4%
First party Second party   Leader Susan Aitken Malcolm Cunning Party SNP Labour Leader's seat Langside Linn Last election 39 seats, 41.0% 31 seats, 30.2% Seats before 35 29 Seats won 37 36 Seat change 2 5 Popular vote 61,543 58,516 Percentage 35.5% 33.8% Swing 5.5% 3.6%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jon Molyneux & Martha Wardrop (pictured) Thomas Kerr Party Scottish Green Conservative Leader's seat Pollokshields & Hillhead Shettleston Last election 7 seats, 8.7% 8 seats, 14.6% Seats before 6 7 Seats won 10 2 Seat change 3 6 Popular vote 23,716 17,741 Percentage 13.7% 10.2% Swing 5.0% 4.4%
The 23 new multi-member wards
Leader before election Susan Aitken (SNP) No overall control Leader after election Susan Aitken (SNP) No overall control

Elections to Glasgow City Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

Despite losing two seats, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party on the council for the second consecutive election, returning 37 councillors out of 85 – six shy of an overall majority. Labour regained some of the ground they had lost at the previous election after winning 36 seats – up five from 2017. The Greens bettered their record-breaking performance from 2017 as they won 10 seats – an increase of three – while the Conservatives lost three-quarters of their seats as they returned just two councillors.

Following the election, the SNP and Greens reached a "working agreement" which allowed the minority SNP administration to remain in control and Cllr Susan Aitken was again returned as council leader.

At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats on the council for the first time. The SNP gained 12 seats to hold 39, four shy of an overall majority, while Labour lost 13 seats, which left them with 31 as they fell from the largest party to second place. The Conservatives gained seven seats to record their best result in Glasgow since 1980 with eight seats. The Greens had a similarly record-breaking result as they recorded their best ever result in Glasgow picking up seven seats, two more than 2012. The Liberal Democrats lost their only seat.^[1][2] As a result, the SNP formed a minority administration to run the council.^[3]

Source:^[1][2]

The election used the 23 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 85 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.^[4]

Following the 2017 election, several changes in the composition of the council occurred. Most were changes to the political affiliation of councillors including SNP councillors Glenn Elder, Russell Robertson, Michael Cullen and Elspeth Kerr and Green councillor Martin Bartos who resigned from their respective parties to become independents.^[5][6][7][8] Labour councillor Anne McTaggart defected and joined the SNP^[9] and Conservative councillor Tony Curtis resigned from the party before he was disqualified from the council for not attending a meeting in six months.^[10] Labour councillor Jim Coleman was also disqualified for not attending a meeting in six months.^[11]

SNP councillors Michelle Ferns and John Letford defected to the Alba Party.^[12][13][14] Three by-elections were held and resulted in a Labour hold, a Labour gain from Conservative and an SNP gain from Labour.^[15][16] Labour councillor Gary Gray died in February 2022 which left a vacancy on the council which would not be filled as it was less than six months before the election.^[17]

Notes

Source:^[2][18]

The total number of candidates fell from 209 in 2017 to 201. As was the case five years previous, the SNP fielded the highest number of candidates at 49 (seven less than in 2017) across the 23 wards. Unlike 2017, the SNP were the only party to field enough candidates to win an outright majority as Labour only put forward 42 candidates – one fewer than the previous election. All of the Labour candidates stood under the "Glasgow Labour" banner, an official alternative description registered by the UK Labour Party that its candidates can use on the ballot papers.^[19] Both the Greens and the Conservatives also contested every ward with both standing 23 candidates which was the same as the previous election. The 20 candidates fielded by the Liberal Democrats were one less than in 2017 while the number of independent candidates fell from 14 to nine. As they had in 2017, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) stood seven candidates while the Scottish Socialist Party put forward four candidates – up one from the previous election. The number of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) candidates fell by 90 per cent to one while the Libertarians (two) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) (one) stood the same number of candidates as they had in 2017. Contesting elections in Glasgow City for the first time were the Alba Party (14 candidates), the Freedom Alliance (three), Volt UK (one) and the Scottish Family Party (one). Solidarity – who had contested every election in Glasgow since 2003 – and No Referendum Maintain Union Pro-Brexit – who had also stood at the 2017 election – did not stand any candidates.^[2][18]

2022 Glasgow City Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	37	1	3	2	43.5	35.5	61,543	5.5
	Labour	36	5	0	5	42.3	33.8	58,516	3.6
	Scottish Green	10	3	0	3	11.8	13.7	23,716	5.0
	Conservative	2	0	6	6	2.3	10.2	17,741	4.4
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0.0	2.4	4,242	0.5
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	1.8	3,151	0.5
	Alba	0	0	0		0.0	1.4	2,440	New
	TUSC	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	573
	Scottish Socialist	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	519	0.2
	Volt	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	421	New
	Freedom Alliance	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	181	New
	Scottish Family	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	91	New
	Scottish Libertarian	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	59
	SDP	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	50
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	46	0.6
Total		85						173,289

Source:^[20]

Source:^[20]

Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

Notes

Source:^[2][20]

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[21][22]

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Greens gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[23][24]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[25][26]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[27][28]

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Greens (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[29][30]

The SNP, Labour and the Greens retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained a seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[31][32]

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Greens (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[33][34]

Labour retained both of their seats while the SNP retained one of their two seats and the Greens gained a seat from the SNP.

Source:^[35][36]

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[37][38]

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Greens (1) retained the seats they won at the previous election.

Source:^[39][40]

The Greens, the SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[41][42]

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Greens gained a seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[43][44]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[45][46]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[47][48]

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[49][50]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[51][52]

Labour (2) and the SNP (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[53][54]

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[55][56]

Labour and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP retained one of their two seats and Labour gained one seat from the SNP.

Source:^[57][58]

Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[59][60]

The SNP retained one of the two seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained their seat and gained one from the SNP.

Source:^[61][62]

The SNP, Labour and the Greens retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Source:^[63][64]

Labour, the SNP and the Greens retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Source:^[65][66]

Despite losing two seats, the SNP retained their position as the largest party ahead of Labour. The result was welcomed by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon who called the SNP's gain from the Conservatives in Pollokshields "seismic". Labour group leader Cllr Malcolm Cunning said the results pointed to the people in Glasgow looking for change after the party gained five seats.^[67] The election saw both the first refugees – Cllr Abdul Bostani and Cllr Roza Salih – to be elected as a councillor in Scotland and the first transgender person – Cllr Elaine Gallagher – elected to Glasgow City Council.^[68][69][70]

After the election, the SNP reached a working agreement with the Greens, similar in nature to the co-operation agreement in the Scottish Government but the Greens would not form part of the administration.^[71] Cllr Susan Aitken was returned as council leader and Cllr Richard Bell was elected as deputy leader, replacing David McDonald who had stood down before the election. Cllr Jacqueline McLaren was selected as Lord Provost – replacing Labour's Cllr Philip Braat – and, as part of the agreement with the Greens, Cllr Christy Mearns was re-elected as deputy Lord Provost.^[72]

Cllr Cunning was replaced as leader of the Labour group by Cllr George Redmond shortly after the election.^[73]

In April 2024, Springburn/Robroyston councillor Audrey Dempsey was suspended by Labour pending an investigation following allegedly racist social media posts.^[74] She later quit the party to sit as an independent councillor.^[75]

Former Lord Provost Cllr Braat was arrested and charged in connection with stalking offences in October 2024. He was also suspended by Labour pending an investigation.^[76]

In January 2025, Cllr Thomas Kerr defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK – a move branded "very disappointing" by party leader Russell Findlay – leaving the party with just one member on the council. He is the first Reform councillor in Glasgow and the fifth in Scotland.^[77]

In September 2022, Labour councillor for Linn and former group leader Malcolm Cunning died.^[78] A by-election was held on 17 November 2022 and was won by Labour candidate John Carson.^[79]

Source:^[80][81]

On 14 December 2023, Labour councillor for Hillhead Hanzala Malik died.^[82] A by-election was held on 7 March 2024 and was notable as the first by-election in Scotland won by the Greens after Seonad Hoy was elected.^[83]

Source:^[84][85]

In September 2024, Drumchapel/Anniesland councillor Patricia Ferguson and North East councillor Maureen Burke (both Labour) resigned their council seats after successfully being elected as MPs for Glasgow West and Glasgow North East respectively at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.^[86] Shortly after, Labour councillor for Maryhill, Keiran O'Neill, resigned for personal reasons.^[87] By-elections were held on 21 November 2024 and were won by Labour candidates Mary McNab, Davena Rankin and Marie Garrity.^[88]

During the by-election campaign, Labour leader Anas Sarwar u-turned on his stance on means-testing the Winter Fuel Allowance in Scotland – a move which was called "hypocritical" and "convenient" by Kilian Riley, SNP candidate for the North East ward.^[89] The policy had previously been blamed for Labour losses following by-elections in Dundee.^[90]

A second by-election may be required for the North East ward after Cllr McNab did not resign her position as an employee of Glasgow City Council within the required timeframe. The issue has been referred to Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar for a ruling.^[91]

Source:^[92][93]

Source:^[94][95]

Source:^[96][97]

In September 2024, SNP councillor for Partick East/Kelvindale Kenny McLean died following an illness.^[98][99] A by-election was held on 5 December 2024 and was won by Labour candidate James Adams.^[100]

Source:^[101][102]

In December 2024, Southside Central Labour councillor James Scanlon died.^[103]