Blantyre (ward)

Blantyre is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward initially elected four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system before a boundary review in 2017 reduced the number of councillors to three. It covers an area with a population of 15,968 people.

Blantyre
South Lanarkshire
Outline map
Boundary of Blantyre in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population15,968 (2021)[1]
Electorate12,850 (2022)
Major settlementsBlantyre
Scottish Parliament constituencyRutherglen
Uddingston and Bellshill
Scottish Parliament regionGlasgow
UK Parliament constituencyRutherglen and Hamilton West
Current ward
Created2007 (2007)
Number of councillors3
CouncillorMaureen Chalmers (SNP)
CouncillorMo Razzaq (Labour)
CouncillorBert Thomson (Labour)
Created fromBlantyre West
Burnbank/Blantyre
Coatshill/Low Blantyre
High Blantyre

The ward is a Labour stronghold with the party holding at least two of the seats since the ward's creation. From 2014 to 2017, the party held all four seats in the ward.

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 Blantyre was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained part of the former Burnbank/Blantyre and High Blantyre wards as well as all of the former Blantyre West and Coatshill/Low Blantyre wards. The Blantyre ward centres on the town of Blantyre, excluding the Hamilton International Technology Park and the modern West Craigs development on the town's southern periphery, in the north of South Lanarkshire between the towns of Cambuslang and Uddingston. The ward is bounded to the north and east by the River Clyde, to the west by the Rotten Calder and to the south by the A725 East Kilbride Expressway. The ward's northern boundary also coincides with the council's border with Glasgow City Council.[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets around Ballantrae Road were transferred into Hamilton North and East. The review resulted in a reduction in the number of seats from four to three in order to balance with other wards with similar populations.[3]

Councillors
Year Councillors
2007 Bert Thomson
(Ind./
SNP/
Labour)		 Jim Handibode
(Labour)		 John McNamee
(SNP/
Labour)		 Hugh Dunsmuir
(Labour)
2010
2012
2014
2015
by-election		 Mo Razzaq
(Labour)
2017 Maureen Chalmers
(SNP)		 3 seats
2022

Election results

2022 election
Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election
Blantyre - 3 seats
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123456
SNP Maureen Chalmers (incumbent) 31.7 1,652          
Labour Mo Razzaq (incumbent) 29.2 1,519          
Labour Bert Thomson (incumbent) 15.7 815 826 997 1,031 1,066 1,307
SNP Gerry Chambers 10.4 542 855 864 872 972 982
Conservative Calum Nimmo 7.7 399 399 408 427 439  
Scottish Green David McClemont 3.2 169 179 183 205    
Liberal Democrats Stephen Reid 2.1 110 111 117      
Electorate: 12,850   Valid: 5,206   Spoilt: 165   Quota: 1,302   Turnout: 41.8%  

    Source:[4][5]

    2017 election
    Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election
    Blantyre - 3 seats
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    12345678
    Labour Mo Razzaq (incumbent) 31.0 1,663              
    SNP Maureen Chalmers 25.3 1,354              
    SNP Michael McGlynn 14.8 797 815 827 838 860 879 902  
    Labour Bert Thomson (incumbent) 13.6 731 980 980 988 1,013 1,051 1,278 1,533
    Conservative Alan Fraser 11.1 593 601 601 603 607 635    
    Liberal Democrats Stephen Reid 1.9 100 109 109 112 125      
    Solidarity Ashley Hubbard 1.4 76 80 81 101        
    Scottish Socialist Gerry McMahon 0.9 48 51 52          
    Electorate: 12,711   Valid: 5,362   Spoilt: 180   Quota: 1,341   Turnout: 43.6%  

      Source:[6][7]

      2015 by-election
      Blantyre by-election (10 December 2015) - 1 seat
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      12345
      Labour Mo Razzaq 47.2 1,476 1,483 1,504 1,536 1,589
      SNP Gerry Chambers 39.6 1,236 1,246 1,259 1,314 1,327
      Conservative Taylor Muir 4.5 140 156 172 173  
      Scottish Socialist Sean Baillie 3.9 122 125 133    
      Liberal Democrats Stephen Reid 2.9 92 97      
      UKIP Emma Jay Docherty 1.9 59        
      Electorate: 13,745   Valid: 3,125   Spoilt: 45   Quota: 1,563   Turnout: 23.1%  

        Source:[8]

        2012 election
        Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election
        Blantyre - 4 seats
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345678910
        Labour Hugh Dunsmuir (incumbent) 25.0 1,144                  
        SNP Bert Thomson (incumbent)[note 1] 20.3 929                  
        Labour Jim Handibode (incumbent)[note 2] 16.6 756 936                
        Labour John McNamee (incumbent) 12.7 579 601 617 617 621 626 639 687 752 844
        SNP John Mullen 10.3 470 472 473 484 486 490 512 542 581  
        Independent Michael Martin 5.1 234 238 239 239 241 260 297 348    
        CPA Michael McGlynn 4.6 209 212 213 214 214 217 253      
        Conservative Isobel Black 3.9 176 179 179 180 188 191        
        Independent Gavin Wallace 0.9 40 41 42 42 45          
        Liberal Democrats Mike Watson 0.7 32 33 33 33            
        Electorate: 13,021   Valid: 4,569   Spoilt: 135   Quota: 914   Turnout: 35.1%  

          Source:[10]

          2007 election
          Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
          Blantyre - 4 seats
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          123456
          Labour Hugh Dunsmuir 24.6 1,586          
          Independent Bert Thomson[note 3][note 4] 21.2 1,365          
          SNP John McNamee[note 5] 19.4 1,253 1,339        
          Labour Jim Handibode[note 6] 17.4 1,121 1,260 1,270 ??? ??? ???
          Independent Michael McGlynn[note 7] 11.6 748 764 783 ??? ??? ???
          Conservative Morag Redpath 5.1 327 329 332 ??? ???  
          Independent Gavin Wallace 0.8 52 53 66 ???    
          Electorate: 13,782   Valid: 6,452   Quota: 1,291   Turnout: 48.0%  

            Source:[11][12]

            Notes
            1. Blantyre SNP councillor Bert Thomson defected from the SNP and joined Labour in 2014.
            2. Blantyre Labour councillor Jim Handibode died on 19 September 2015.[9] A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 10 December 2015 and was won by Labour's Mo Razzaq.
            3. Returning councillor for High Blantyre single-member ward.
            4. Blantyre councillor Bert Thomson subsequently joined the SNP and ceased to be an independent.
            5. On 1 February 2010, Blantyre councillor John McNamee resigned from the SNP and joined Labour.
            6. Returning councillor for Coatshill/Low Blantyre single-member ward.
            7. Returning councillor for Blantyre West single-member ward.

            References
            1. "Blantyre". Scottish Government. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
            2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
            3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
            4. "Ward 15 Blantyre Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
            5. "Ward 15 Blantyre Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
            6. "Ward 15 Blantyre Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
            7. "Ward 15 Blantyre Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
            8. "Blantyre by-election - 10 December 2015". South Lanarkshire Council. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
            9. "Remembering Councillor Jim Handibode". Blantyre Telegraph. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
            10. "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
            11. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
            12. Bochel, H. M.; Denver, D. T. (2007). Scottish Council Elections 2007 Results and Statistics (PDF). Lincoln: Policy Studies Research Centre, University of Lincoln. ISBN 978-1-874474-36-4. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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