1974 Hamilton District Council election

1974 Hamilton District Council election
All 20 seats to Hamilton District Council; 11 seats needed for a majority
Registered	74,381
Turnout	%
	Council Leader after election ; ; Labour

Elections to Hamilton District Council were held on 7 May 1974, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the first election to the district council following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The election used the 20 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Labour took control of the council after winning a majority of the seats – 13 – and taking nearly half the popular vote. The Scottish National Party (SNP) took more than a quarter of the popular vote but only returned two seats. Both the Conservatives and the Liberals also returned two seats with less than half the vote share of the SNP. The remaining seat was won by an independent candidate.

Background

Prior to 1974, Hamilton was one of nine burghs within the County of Lanark. As a large burgh, powers over planning, local taxation, building control, housing, lighting and drainage as well as further powers over the police, public health, social services, registration of births, marriages and deaths and electoral registration rested with the burgh council. The rest of the local government responsibility fell to the county council which had full control over the areas which were not within a burgh.^[2]

Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs – which had resulted in a mishmash of local government areas in which some small burghs had larger populations but far fewer responsibilities than some large burghs and even counties^[2] – was to be replaced by a new system of regional and district councils. Hamilton Burgh and the surrounding areas including Blantyre, Bothwell, Uddingston, Larkhall and Stonehouse was to be placed in Hamilton District within the Strathclyde region.^[3]

Results

1974 Hamilton District Council election result
Party		Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	13	N/A	65.0	45.7	17,530	N/A
	SNP	2	N/A	10.0	26.7	10,248	N/A
	Conservative	2	N/A	10.0	12.5	4,765	N/A
	Liberal	2	N/A	10.0	7.3	2,784	N/A
	Independent	1	N/A	5.0	2.1	812	N/A
	Independent Labour	0	N/A	0.0	5.6	2,138	N/A
	Communist	0	N/A	0.0	0.3	98	N/A
Total		20

Source:^[4]

Ward results

Hillhouse

Hillhouse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	R. Newberry	888	60.2
	SNP	J. Boothroyd	588	39.8
Majority			300	20.4
Turnout			1,476	49.0
Registered electors			3,041
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Udston

Udston
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	S. Dallas	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,181
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Wellhall North

Wellhall North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	M. Kirkwood	676	47.3
	Labour	H. Doyle	377	26.4
	Conservative	A. Aitchison	377	26.4
Majority			299	20.9
Turnout			1,430	46.3
Registered electors			3,104
	SNP win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Central

Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	C. Brain	721	52.3
	Labour	T. Murphy	658	47.7
Majority			63	4.6
Turnout			1,379	54.7
Registered electors			2,543
	Conservative win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Burnbank

Burnbank
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Brownlie	1,267	61.2
	SNP	D. Brown	804	38.8
Majority			463	22.4
Turnout			2,071	50.3
Registered electors			4,164
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Bent

Bent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	J. Ross	728	40.3
	Labour	M. S. Ewart	623	34.5
	Conservative	G. Cowper	455	25.2
Majority			105	5.8
Turnout			1,806	57.0
Registered electors			3,184
	SNP win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fairhill

Fairhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	N. Cochrane	1,273	51.3
	SNP	E. Moore	1,113	44.8
	Communist	A. Valentine	98	4.0
Majority			160	6.5
Turnout			2,484	50.7
Registered electors			4,942
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Wellhall South

Wellhall South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	R. Sherry	627	53.0
	Conservative	G. Young	282	23.8
	Liberal	J. Millward	275	23.2
Majority			345	29.2
Turnout			1,184	52.8
Registered electors			2,273
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Low Waters

Low Waters
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D. Williamson	1,661	66.9
	Labour	I. McKillop	822	33.1
Majority			839	33.8
Turnout			2,483	56.0
Registered electors			4,506
	Conservative win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Cadzow

Cadzow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Condie	1,687	63.8
	Conservative	G. Skelton-Smith	957	36.2
Majority			730	27.6
Turnout			2,644	48.3
Registered electors			5,619
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Dalserf

Dalserf
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Grove	857	44.9
	SNP	G. Smith	683	35.8
	Independent Labour	J. McLean	367	19.2
Majority			174	9.1
Turnout			1,907	51.3
Registered electors			3,715
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Machan

Machan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Hunter	985	42.8
	SNP	M. Fergusson	965	41.9
	Independent Labour	J. Kelly	351	15.3
Majority			20	0.9
Turnout			2,301	53.9
Registered electors			4,282
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Avonholm

Avonholm
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Speirs	662	39.4
	Independent Labour	W. Little	623	37.1
	SNP	M. Miller	394	23.5
Majority			39	1.7
Turnout			1,679	57.1
Registered electors			2,957
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Strutherhill

Strutherhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S. Casserly	726	44.0
	Independent Labour	J. Downie	662	40.1
	SNP	E. Rocks	263	15.9
Majority			64	3.9
Turnout			1,651	62.0
Registered electors			2,674
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Stonehouse

Stonehouse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	M. Burns	812	40.0
	Labour	H. Chalmers	711	35.1
	SNP	C. McFarlane	505	24.9
Majority			101	4.9
Turnout			2,028	60.2
Registered electors			3,391
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Bothwell and Uddingston North

Bothwell and Uddingston North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	T. Maxwell	939	44.0
	Labour	S. Sloss	809	37.9
	SNP	D. Kirkcaldy	388	18.2
Majority			130	6.1
Turnout			2,136	62.0
Registered electors			3,486
	Liberal win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Bothwell and Uddingston South

Bothwell and Uddingston South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	T. Grieve	1,568	68.1
	Conservative	G. McAllister	312	13.5
	Labour	G. Forry	279	12.1
	SNP	H. Graham	145	6.3
Majority			1,256	54.6
Turnout			2,304	66.6
Registered electors			3,485
	Liberal win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

High Blantyre

High Blantyre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Swinburne	1,353	55.7
	SNP	D. Crawford	1,075	44.3
Majority			278	11.4
Turnout			2,428	51.0
Registered electors			4,789
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Blantyre

Blantyre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Tremble	1,412	56.3
	SNP	T. Rarity	1,094	43.7
Majority			318	12.6
Turnout			2,506	54.9
Registered electors			4,648
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Stonefield

Stonefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. McInally	1,514	61.2
	SNP	J. Waugh	827	33.4
	Independent Labour	A. McLauchlan	135	5.5
Majority			687	27.8
Turnout			2,476	57.7
Registered electors			4,397
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

References

^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^ Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR 20000437.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[1] "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[Info_paper-2] "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[3] Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR 20000437.

[SRE1974-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Council elections in South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire Council	1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022
Strathclyde Regional Council	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Abolished
Clydesdale District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished
East Kilbride District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished
Hamilton District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished

v t e (1973 ←) 1974 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1975)
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