2017 Inverclyde Council election

2017 Inverclyde Council election

4 May 2017 (2017-05-04)
All 22 seats to Inverclyde Council 12 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	48.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stephen McCabe Chris McEleny Ronald Ahlfeld Party Labour SNP Independent Leader's seat Inverclyde East Inverclyde West Inverclyde West Last election 10 seats, 44.2% 6 seats, 25.4% 1 seat, 11.4% Seats before 9 6 2 Seats won 8 7 4 Seat change 2 1 3 Popular vote 7,702 9,368 4,766 Percentage 26.9% 32.8% 16.7% Swing 17.3% 7.4% 5.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader David Wilson Ciano Rebecchi Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Inverclyde East Inverclyde South West Last election 1 seat, 10.1% 2 seats, 7.9% Seats before 1 2 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 5,046 1,697 Percentage 17.6% 5.9% Swing 7.5% 2.0%
Council Leader before election Stephen McCabe Labour Council Leader after election Stephen McCabe Labour

The 2017 elections to Inverclyde Council were held on 4 May 2017, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. It was the third successive Local Council election to run under the STV Electoral System. The election used seven wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 22 Councillors being elected, an increase of 2 from 2012 and an additional ward. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

Following the 2017 election, the Labour Party won the most seats but not enough to form majority control. At the first full meeting of the council, Labour formed a minority administration with Conservative and Independent support with Martin Brennan elected Provost and Stephen McCabe retaining his position as leader of the council.

Results

2017 Inverclyde Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	8	0	2	2	36.4	26.9	7,702	17.3
	SNP	7	1	0	1	31.8	32.8	9,368	7.4
	Independent	4	3	0	3	18.1	16.7	4,766	5.3
	Conservative	2	1	0	1	9.0	17.6	5,046	7.5
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	1	1	4.5	5.9	1,697	2.0
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	20	New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Inverclyde East

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017: Ward changed to 3 councillors. Labour lose 1 seat.

Inverclyde East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	David Wilson (incumbent)	39.98	1,767
	SNP	Christopher Curley	27.01	1,194
	Labour	Stephen McCabe (incumbent)	21.56	953	1,128.07
	Independent	Jim Boyland	8.05	356	427.45
	Liberal Democrats	Jacci Stoyle	3.39	150	318.71
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,420   Spoilt: 52   Quota: 1,106   Turnout: 4,472 (52%)

Inverclyde East Central

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017: Independent gain 1 seat from Labour

Inverclyde East Central - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Robert Moran (incumbent)	32.33	1,193
	SNP	Jim MacLeod *	28.35	1,046
	Conservative	Iain MacLeod	15.58	575	603.52	604.57	629.76	655.21
	Independent	Drew McKenzie	12.74	470	539.25	550.19	581.21	795.45	1,059.19
	SNP	Donna Pickett	9.29	343	367.9	461.03	472.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robbie Henderson	1.71	63	89.71	92.99
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,690   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 923   Turnout: 3,783 (47.6%)

• = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Inverclyde Central

• 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017: New ward

Inverclyde Central - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Jim McEleny	32.5	973
	Labour	Michael McCormick *	32.4	970
	Labour	Colin Jackson	14.53	435	443.52	600.95	622.37	751.33
	Conservative	Ian Bryson	9.22	276	276.92	280.57	302.93
	SNP	Jayne Peberdy	8.52	255	452.29	464.59	477.97	489.66
	Liberal Democrats	Kenny Shepherd *	2.84	85	87.3	94.36
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 2,994   Spoilt: 128   Quota: 749   Turnout: 3,122 (41.1%)

• = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Inverclyde North

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017: Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Inverclyde North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Martin Brennan (incumbent)	24.74	1,279
	Conservative	Graeme Brooks	19.27	996	1,015.92	1,111.6
	SNP	Elizabeth Robertson	16.72	864	871.28	891.47	893.59	957.12	1,687.09
	SNP	Philomena Donnachie	15.52	802	812.15	823.15	824.88	858.12
	Labour	Jim Clocherty (incumbent)	10.41	538	705.99	761.29	776.23	883.69	923.98
	Independent	Eddie McEleny	7.33	379	388.39	451.92	475.11
	Liberal Democrats	Alasdair Higgins	6.02	311	319.81
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,169   Spoilt: 139   Quota: 1,034   Turnout: 5,308 (51%)

Inverclyde West

• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017: Independent gain from Labour

Inverclyde West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Ronald Ahlfeld (incumbent)	45.13	2,189
	SNP	Christopher McEleny (incumbent)	23.98	1,163	1,272.68
	Labour	Alan Holliday	12.04	584	687.44	698.97	702.88	778.38	926.2
	Conservative	James Kelly	10.52	510	600.06	601.2	613.92	663.44
	Independent	Lynne Quinn	4.1	199	690.34	711.52	714.47	782.73	975.4	1,301.8
	Liberal Democrats	George White	3.81	185	271.05	277.16	280.73
	UKIP	Alan Taylor	0.41	20	28.47	29.4
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,850   Spoilt: 77   Quota: 1,213   Turnout: 4,927 (57.1%)

Inverclyde South West

• 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
• 2012-2017: No change

Inverclyde South West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Innes Nelson (incumbent)	25.85	1,059
	Labour	Gerry Dorrian (incumbent)	19.14	784	785.12	809.16	858.35	961.03	963.12	1,217.06
	Liberal Democrats	Ciano Rebecchi (incumbent)	19.0	778	779.64	804.7	897.89	1,030.18
	Conservative	Dominic Jack	15.5	635	635.32	647.32	695.39	703.77	704.75
	SNP	Alan Nicholson	9.13	374	401.54	438.77	504.31
	Independent	Gary Purdon	6.96	285	286.09	344.12
	Independent	J.B. Houston	4.42	181	181.42
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,096   Spoilt: 76   Quota: 1,025   Turnout: 4,172 (45.5%)

Inverclyde South

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017: Independent gain from Labour

Inverclyde South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	John Crowther	28.93	978
	Labour	Natasha Murphy	28.58	966
	Independent	Tommy McVey	15.74	532	538.07	566.77	592.83	657.11	703.23	817.23	993.64
	SNP	Agnes McAuley	9.38	317	426.59	438.26	454.79	472.9	482.35	490.97
	Conservative	Maureen McNeil	8.49	287	287.54	298.72	303.97	314.23	352.95
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Duffy	3.7	125	127.29	142.08	146.57	155.22
	Independent	John Cooke	3.14	106	110.05	115.76	124.52
	Independent	Vaughan Jones (incumbent)	2.04	69	70.75	74.48
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,380   Spoilt: 74   Quota: 846   Turnout: 3,454 (43.8%)

Aftermath

Innes Nelson resigned from the SNP on 25 October 2017 following an assault allegation. The charges were dropped on 31 October 2018 and he re-joined the party.

Former SNP group leader Chris McEleny defected to the Alba Party on the announcement by Alex Salmond of its formation on 26 March 2021. His father Jim McEleny later defected to Alba as well.