Rutherglen South (ward)

Rutherglen South is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 15,322 people.

Rutherglen South
South Lanarkshire
Outline map
Boundary of Rutherglen South in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population15,322 (2021)[1]
Electorate11,697 (2022)
Major settlementsRutherglen (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituencyRutherglen
Scottish Parliament regionGlasgow
UK Parliament constituencyRutherglen and Hamilton West
Current ward
Created2007 (2007)
Number of councillors3
CouncillorCarol Nugent (SNP)
CouncillorRobert Brown (Liberal Democrats)
CouncillorMargaret Cowie (Labour)
Created fromBankhead
Cathkin/Springhall
Fernhill
Spittal/Blairbeth
Stonelaw

The ward has politically been split between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) with each party returning one councillor at each full election. Labour briefly held two of the three seats following a by-election in 2013.

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 Rutherglen South was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained the majority of the former Stonelaw ward, roughly half of the former Cathkin/Springhall ward and all of the former Fernhill and Spittal/Blairbeth wards as well as a small part of the former Bankhead ward. Rutherglen South covers a suburban area in the south of Rutherglen including the neighbourhoods of Burnside, Blairbeth, Cathkin, Fernhill, High Burnside, Springhall and Spittal. The ward's western boundary is the long-established division with Glasgow City Council.[2]

Prior to the local government reforms in the 1990s, Rutherglen was within the Glasgow District under Strathclyde Regional Council. One of its single-member wards was Fernhill, which included much of the same area as the current Rutherglen South, with the exception of the parts of Burnside north of the Cathcart Circle Line railway tracks.[3]

Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets around Overtoun Park, Dryburgh Avenue and Limeside Avenue were transferred from the ward into Rutherglen Central and North while streets to the east of the ward around East Kilbride Road, Brownside Road and Dukes Road were transferred into Rutherglen South from Cambuslang West.[4]

Councillors
Aerial view of the ward from the west
Election Councillors
2007 Brian McKenna
(Labour)		 Eileen Baxendale
(Liberal Democrats)		 Anne Higgins
(SNP)
2012 Robert Brown
(Liberal Democrats)
2013 by-election Gerard Killen
(Labour)
2017 Margaret Cowie
(Labour)		 Carol Nugent
(SNP)
2022

Election Results

2022 election
Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election
Rutherglen South - 3 seats
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12
SNP Carol Nugent (incumbent) 31.9 1,825  
Liberal Democrats Robert Brown (incumbent) 29.4 1,686  
Labour Margaret Cowie (incumbent) 23.2 1,331 1,436
Conservative Alexandra Herdman 8.5 489 495
Scottish Green Emma Smith 4.6 263 436
Scottish Family Michael O'Hara 1.3 73 85
Independent Spencer Hugh Pryor 1.1 62 73
Electorate: 11,697   Valid: 5,729   Spoilt: 73   Quota: 1,433   Turnout: 49.6%  

    Source:[5][6]

    2017 election
    Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election
    Rutherglen South - 3 seats
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    12345
    SNP Carol Nugent 31.0 1,803        
    Liberal Democrats Robert Brown (incumbent) 31.0 1,798        
    Labour Margaret Cowie 19.7 1,142 1,220 1,333 1,343 1,522
    Conservative Taylor Muir 14.7 854 861 950 976 1,009
    Scottish Green Brian Finlay 2.6 152 324 364 383  
    UKIP Jack Sinclair 1.0 57 65 71    
    Electorate: 11,557   Valid: 5,806   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 1,452   Turnout: 50.8%  

      Source:[7][8]

      2013 by-election
      Rutherglen South by-election (14 February 2013) - 1 seat
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1234567
      Labour Gerard Killen 39.9 1,352 1,358 1,370 1,376 1,396 1,616 2,090
      Liberal Democrats David Baillie 29.5 999 1,004 1,016 1,035 1,104 1,278  
      SNP Margaret Ferrier 21.0 712 714 730 741 755    
      Conservative Aric Gilinisky 3.8 128 133 134 170      
      UKIP Donald Murdo MacKay 3.3 111 115 120        
      Scottish Green Susan Martin 1.7 59 60          
      Independent Craig Smith 0.9 31            
      Electorate: 12,919   Valid: 3,392   Spoilt: 46   Quota: 1,697   Turnout: 26.6%  

        Source:[9]

        2012 election
        Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election
        Rutherglen South - 3 seats
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345
        Labour Brian McKenna (incumbent) 26.0 1,244        
        Liberal Democrats Robert Brown 24.7 1,181 1,185 1,213    
        SNP Anne Higgins (incumbent)[note 1] 23.9 1,141 1,143 1,151 1,156 1,199
        Labour Gerard Killen 17.8 851 888 914 918 972
        Conservative Richard Tawse 4.9 232 233 269 272  
        Scottish Unionist Michael Haigh 2.7 130 131      
        Electorate: 11,153   Valid: 4,779   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 1,195   Turnout: 42.9%  

          Source:[11]

          2007 election
          Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
          Rutherglen South - 3 seats
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          12345678910
          Labour Brian McKenna[note 2] 24.7 1,534 1,548 1,565              
          Liberal Democrats Eileen Baxendale 17.3 1,077 1,082 1,092 1,092 ??? 1,174 1,597      
          SNP Anne Higgins 16.8 1,045 1,070 1,074 1,074 ??? 1,159 1,195 1,204 1,303 ???
          Labour Patricia Osborne[note 3] 13.6 846 857 864 871 ??? 951 970 976 1,035  
          Conservative Jean Miller 8.5 529 530 588 588 ??? 630 649 657    
          Liberal Democrats Danny Campbell 8.1 506 507 510 510 ??? 550        
          Independent Brian McCutcheon 4.6 285 293 303 303 ???          
          Scottish Green Michael Tobin 2.4 150 176 178 178            
          Scottish Unionist Michael A Haigh 2.2 135 138                
          Scottish Socialist John Patrick 1.7 106                  
          Electorate: 11,376   Valid: 6,213   Quota: 1,554   Turnout: 55.8%  

            Source:[12][13]

            Notes
            1. Rutherglen South SNP councillor Anne Higgins died on 20 November 2012. A by-election was held on 14 February 2013 and was won by Labour's Gerard Killen which gave the party an overall majority on the council.[10]
            2. Returning councillor for Burgh single-member ward.
            3. Returning councillor for Fernhill single-member ward.

            References
            1. "Rutherglen South". 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 11 March 2023.
            3. "Second Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
            4. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
            5. "Ward 11 Rutherglen South Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
            6. "Ward 11 Rutherglen South Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
            7. "Ward 11 Rutherglen South Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
            8. "Ward 11 Rutherglen South Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
            9. "Rutherglen South by-election - 14 February 2013". South Lanarkshire Council. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
            10. "Rutherglen South, 2013". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
            11. "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
            12. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
            13. 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.