The 2022 Falkirk Council election was held on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the nine wards created following the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland's 5th Review, with 30 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either three or four members, using the STV electoral system.
At the last election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats and formed a minority administration.
Background Previous election At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) became the largest party, despite losing one seat, overtaking Labour who lost five seats. Two independents were elected, one less than 2012 while the Conservatives gained five seats.
Notes Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections in May 2012. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils. Following boundary changes, the number of seats in Falkirk fell from 32 in 2012 to 30 in 2017. Gains and losses are represented against national results which may differ from other published sources.
Composition Since the previous election, several changes in the composition of the council occurred. Labour councillor John McLuckie and Conservative councillor James Kerr were suspended by their respective parties after having been charged by the police following an investigation into planning irregularities in Falkirk. SNP councillor Niall Coleman resigned from the party to become an independent. Two by-elections were held and resulted in an SNP hold and an SNP gain from Labour.
Party2017 resultDissolutionSNP1212Labour97Conservative77Independents24
Retiring councillors WardPartyRetiring councillorGrangemouthLabourAllyson BlackDenny and BanknockLabourJim BlackwoodCarse, Kinnaird and TrystLabourJoan CoombesBonnybridge and LarbertIndependentNiall ColemanFalkirk NorthSNPDavid AlexanderIndependentDennis GoldieFalkirk SouthConservativeJohn PatrickLower BraesConservativeMalcolm NicolUpper BraesSNPGordon Hughes
Results
Ward summary
|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !% !Cllrs !rowspan=2|TotalCllrs |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|SNP !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Lab !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Conservative !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Green !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Lib Dem !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Ind !colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Alba !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"|Others |- |align="left"|Bo'ness and Blackness |21.74 |1 |18.64 |1 |15.12 |0 |2.44 |0 |1.61 |0 |bgcolor=""|40.58 |bgcolor=""|1 |colspan="4" |3 |- |align="left"|Grangemouth |bgcolor="" |44.85 |bgcolor="" |1 |23.38 |1 |15.23 |0 |2.42 |0 |colspan="2" |15.06 |1 |colspan="2" |0.54 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Denny and Banknock |bgcolor="" |46.49 |bgcolor="" |2 |20.66 |1 |16.16 |0 |3.15 |0 |colspan="2" |13.54 |1 |colspan="4" |4 |- |align="left"|Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst |bgcolor="" |44.37 |bgcolor="" |2 |24.55 |1 |24.06 |1 |4.14 |0 |2.88 |0 |colspan="6" |4 |- |align="left"|Bonnybridge and Larbert |bgcolor="" |33.88 |bgcolor="" |1 |17.60 |1 |18.41 |0 |4.91 |0 |colspan="2" |25.22 |1 |colspan="4" |3 |- |align="left"|Falkirk North |bgcolor="" |47.41 |bgcolor="" |2 |28.86 |1 |13.27 |1 |5.90 |0 |colspan="4" |4.55 |0 |colspan="2" |4 |- |align="left"|Falkirk South |bgcolor="" |41.66 |bgcolor="" |1 |22.34 |1 |28.56 |1 |5.67 |0 |colspan="2" |1.77 |0 |colspan="4" |3 |- |align="left"|Lower Braes |bgcolor="" |39.35 |bgcolor="" |1 |27.00 |1 |23.34 |1 |5.78 |0 |3.24 |0 |colspan="2" |1.30 |0 |colspan="2" |3 |- |align="left"|Upper Braes |bgcolor="" |34.88 |bgcolor="" |1 |23.13 |1 |21.86 |1 |5.60 |0 |2.53 |0 |10.88 |0 |1.15 |0 |colspan="2" |3 |- |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !align="left"|Total ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !30
Ward results
Bo'ness and Blackness 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2022: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2017-2022 Change: Independent gain one seat from Conservative
Grangemouth 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2022: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2017-2022 Change: No change
Denny and Banknock 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 1xIndependent 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2017-2022 Change: Independent gain one seat from Conservative
Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2017-2022 Change: No change
Bonnybridge and Larbert 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2017: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent 2022: 1xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2017-2022 Change: Labour gain one seat from Conservative
Falkirk North 2012: 2xSNP; 2xLab 2017: 2xSNP; 2xLab 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2017-2022 Change: Conservative gain one seat from Labour
Falkirk South 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2022: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab 2017-2022 Change: No change
Lower Braes 2012: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2022: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2017-2022 Change: No change
Upper Braes 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2022: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon 2017-2022 Change: No change
Aftermath
Falkirk South by-election In July 2024, Labour councillor Euan Stainbank was elected as MP for Falkirk at the 2024 United Kingdom general election and subsequently resigned as a councillor in August 2024. A by-election was held on 17 October 2024 and was won by Labour candidate Claire Aitken.
Notes
References