Hamilton South (ward)

Hamilton South is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 22,032 people.

Hamilton South
South Lanarkshire
Outline map
Boundary of Hamilton South in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population22,032 (2020)[1]
Electorate16,516 (2022)
Major settlementsHamilton (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituencyHamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
Scottish Parliament regionCentral Scotland
UK Parliament constituencyLanark and Hamilton East
Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Current ward
Created2007 (2007)
Number of councillors4
CouncillorJohn Ross (SNP)
CouncillorGavin Wylie Keatt (Labour)
CouncillorCeline Handibode (Labour)
CouncillorHelen Toner (SNP)
Created fromCadzow
Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair
Hamilton Centre North
Low Waters
Silvertonhill
Woodhead/Meikle Earnock

The ward has produced strong results for both the Scottish National Party (SNP) – who won half the seats at the 2012, 2017 and 2022 elections – and Labour who won half the seats at the 2007, 2012 and 2022 elections. Following a by-election win in 2013, Labour held three of the four seats.

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 Hamilton South was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Low Waters and Silvertonhill wards as well as part of the former Cadzow and Woodhead/Meikle Earnock wards and a small part of the former Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair and Hamilton Centre North wards. Hamilton South covers the southern part of Hamilton including the Avon Grove, Cadzow, Eddlewood, Fairhill, Laighstonehall, Low Waters, Meikle Earnock, Silvertonhill, Torhead Farm and Woodhead neighbourhoods.[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets around Portland Place, Burnblea Street and Kemp Street were added to the ward from Hamilton North and East which resulted in the ward's northeastern boundary moving to the Argyle Line railway tracks.[3]

Councillors
Year Councillors
2007 Joe Lowe
(Labour/Independent)		 Brian McCaig
(Labour)		 Bobby Lawson
(SNP)		 John Murray
(Conservative)
2012 Angela Crawley
(SNP)
2013
by-election		 Stuart Gallacher
(Labour)
2015
by-election		 John Ross
(SNP)
2017 Lynne Mailon
(Conservative)		 Josh Wilson
(SNP)
2017
2022 Gavin Wylie Keatt
(Labour)		 Celine Handibode
(Labour)		 Helen Toner
(SNP)

Election results

2022 election
Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election
Hamilton South - 4 seats
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12
SNP John Ross (incumbent) 26.3 1,921  
Labour Gavin Wylie Keatt 23.1 1,688  
Labour Celine Handibode 22.3 1,632  
SNP Helen Toner 15.1 1,105 1,525
Conservative Lynne Nailon (incumbent) 13.1 960 967
Electorate: 16,516   Valid: 7,306   Spoilt: 193   Quota: 1,462   Turnout: 45.4%  

    Source:[4][5]

    2017 election
    Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election
    Hamilton South - 4 seats
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    1234567
    SNP John Ross (incumbent) 30.6 2,167            
    Labour Joe Lowe (incumbent)[note 1] 25.7 1,818            
    Conservative Lynne Nailon 21.8 1,544            
    Labour Brian McCaig (incumbent) 9.1 643 669 991 1,020 1,055 1,177  
    SNP Josh Wilson 6.7 475 1,105 1,112 1,115 1,209 1,245 1,485
    Scottish Green John Kane 3.0 216 249 257 265      
    Liberal Democrats Joanne Ferguson 3.0 210 228 244 282 345    
    Electorate: 16,328   Valid: 7,073   Spoilt: 177   Quota: 1,415   Turnout: 44.4%  

      Source:[7][8]

      2015 by-election
      Hamilton South by-election (6 August 2015)- 1 seat
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456
      SNP John Ross 48.0 1,881 1,883 1,888 1,905 1919 1,988
      Labour Jim Lee 35.6 1,396 1,398 1,405 1,410 1,425 1,460
      Conservative Lynne Nailon 8.9 349 349 354 365 389 394
      Scottish Green John Kane 3.2 127 128 132 135 146  
      Scottish Christian Craig Smith 2.0 77 80 81 84    
      UKIP Donald Murdo MacKay 1.1 43 44 45      
      Liberal Democrats Matthew Cockburn 0.8 32 34        
      Pirate Andrew McCallum 0.3 13          
      Electorate: 14,811   Valid: 3,918   Spoilt: 52   Quota: 1,960   Turnout: 26.8%  

        Source:[9]

        2013 by-election
        Hamilton South by-election (24 October 2013) - 1 seat
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        1
        Labour Stuart Gallacher 51.7 1,781
        SNP Josh Wilson 32.5 1,120
        Conservative Lynne Nailon 9.4 322
        Scottish Christian Craig Martin 3.9 133
        UKIP Josh Richardson 2.5 86
        Electorate: 14,478   Valid: 3,442   Spoilt: 43   Quota: 1,722   Turnout: 24.1%  

          Source:[10]

          2012 election
          Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election
          Hamilton South - 4 seats
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          1234567
          Labour Joe Lowe (incumbent) 36.6 1,975            
          SNP Angela Crawley[note 2] 23.2 1,255            
          Labour Brian McCaig (incumbent) 14.8 800 1,512          
          SNP Bobby Lawson (incumbent)[note 3] 9.3 502 537 599 747 773 861 988
          Conservative John Murray (incumbent) 9.2 496 516 542 545 584 654  
          Scottish Senior Citizens David Holland 3.7 199 234 314 324 380    
          Scottish Christian Craig Smith 3.1 165 176 198 200      
          Electorate: 14,383   Valid: 5,392   Spoilt: 134   Quota: 1,079   Turnout: 37.5%  

            Source:[13]

            2007 election
            Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
            Hamilton South - 4 seats
            PartyCandidateFPv%Count
            12345678
            Labour Joe Lowe[note 4] 34.9 2,626              
            SNP Bobby Lawson 23.8 1,791              
            Labour Brian McCaig[note 5] 13.4 1,005 1,685            
            Conservative John Murray 10.7 808 837 872 883 906 942 1,121 ???
            Independent John Carracher 6.2 464 531 564 584 611 740 876  
            Liberal Democrats John Oswald 5.7 427 459 509 532 633 664    
            Independent David Holland 2.9 215 255 276 283 300      
            Scottish Green Denize McBride 2.5 188 219 265 276        
            Electorate: 15,037   Valid: 7,524   Quota: 1,505   Turnout: 51.0%  

              Source:[14][15]

              Notes
              1. Hamilton South Labour councillor and Joe Lowe resigned from the party and became an independent in May 2017.[6]
              2. Hamilton South SNP councillor Angela Crawley was elected as MP for Lanark and Hamilton East on 7 May 2015. She resigned her council seat on 22 May 2015.[11] A by-election was held on 6 August 2015 and was won by the SNP's John Ross.
              3. Hamilton South SNP councillor Bobby Lawson died on 13 August 2013. A by-election was held on 24 October 2013 and was won by Labour's Stuart Gallacher.[12]
              4. Returning councillor for Low Waters single-member ward.
              5. Returning councillor for Silvertonhill single-member ward.

              References
              1. "Hamilton South". Scottish Government. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
              2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
              3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
              4. "Ward 19 Hamilton South Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
              5. "Ward 19 Hamilton South Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
              6. Findlay, Nicola (25 May 2017). "Long-standing councillors quit SNP ahead of first meeting of new council". Daily Record.
              7. "Ward 19 Hamilton South Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
              8. "Ward 19 Hamilton South Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
              9. "Hamilton South by-election - 6 August 2015". South Lanarkshire Council. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
              10. "Hamilton South by-election - 24 October 2013". South Lanarkshire Council. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
              11. Pirie, Mark (23 May 2015). "Hamilton South councillor Angela Crawley to step down triggering by-election". Daily Record.
              12. "Hamilton South By-election Thursday 24 October 2013". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
              13. "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
              14. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
              15. 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.
              This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.