Hamilton North and East (ward)

Hamilton North and East
South Lanarkshire
Boundary of Hamilton North and East in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population	15,004 (2021)[1]
Electorate	12,036 (2022)
Major settlements	Hamilton (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Uddingston and Bellshill
Scottish Parliament region	Central Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Hamilton and Clyde Valley
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	3
Councillor	Davie McLachlan (Labour)
Councillor	Colin Dewar (SNP)
Councillor	Martin Hose (Conservative)
Created from	Burnbank/Blantyre Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair Hamilton Centre North Udston Wellhall/Earnock Whitehill

Hamilton North and East 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 15,004 people.

The ward was previously a Labour stronghold with the party holding two of the three seats between 2007 and 2017. However, it has since become split between Labour, the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Conservatives with each party holding one seat since 2017.

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 North and East was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Whitehill ward, the majority of the former Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair ward and part of the former Burnbank/Blantyre and Hamilton Centre North wards as well as a small part of the former Udston and Wellhall/Earnock ward. Hamilton North and East covers the northern and eastern parts of Hamilton including the town centre, Barncluith, Burnbank, Chantinghall, Hamilton West and Whitehill, plus the separate village of Ferniegair/Allanton. The River Clyde forms the ward's eastern boundary, coinciding with the council's border with North Lanarkshire Council, and the Avon Water forms the ward's southwestern boundary.^[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets south of the town centre between Portland Place, Burnblea Street and Kemp Street were transferred to Hamilton South while streets around Ballantrae Road were transferred into the ward from Blantyre.^[3]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		David McLachlan (Labour)		Mary Smith (Labour)		Barry Douglas (SNP)
2012	Monica Lennon (Labour)		Lynn Adams (SNP)
2016 by-election			Stephanie Callaghan (SNP)
2017				Martin Hose (Conservative)
2022	Colin Dewar (SNP)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton North and East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Davie McLachlan (incumbent)	32.4	1,539
	SNP	Colin Dewar	30.3	1,442
	Conservative	Martin Hose (incumbent)	19.0	902	965	968	989	1,109	1,304
	SNP	Phil Sykes	10.5	501	552	772	805	876
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Reynolds	5.2	249	348	355	396
	Independent	Balarabe Baba	2.6	124	150	154
Electorate: 12,036   Valid: 4,757   Spoilt: 109   Quota: 1,190   Turnout: 40.4%

Source:^[4][5]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton North and East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	Martin Hose	26.5	1,268
	SNP	Stephanie Callaghan (incumbent)	25.1	1,201
	Labour	Davie McLachlan (incumbent)[note 1]	23.6	1,128	1,144	1,144	1,158	1,180	1,239
	SNP	Jason Douglas	10.9	521	522	525	541	603	633
	Labour	Nina Reeves	6.2	296	301	301	305	320	343
	Liberal Democrats	David Bennie	2.9	137	152	152	177	207
	Scottish Green	Steven Hannigan	3.2	152	154	154	165
	Independent	Balarabe Baba	1.8	87	94	94
Electorate: 11,600   Valid: 4,790   Spoilt: 94   Quota: 1,198   Turnout: 42.1%

Source:^[8][9]

2016 by-election

Hamilton North and East by-election (21 January 2016) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Stephanie Callaghan	42.9	1,089	1,096	1,138	1,206	1,569
	Labour	Lyndsay Clelland	33.6	855	861	878	1,052
	Conservative	James MacKay	18.5	469	480	485
	Scottish Green	Steven Hannigan	3.3	83	90
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Rae	1.8	45
Electorate: 12,423   Valid: 2,541   Spoilt: 31   Quota: 1,271   Turnout: 20.2%

Source:^[10]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton North and East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Davie McLachlan (incumbent)	24.4	1,037	1,045	1,073
	SNP	Lynn Adams[note 2]	22.2	945	964	994	994	1,044	1,726
	Labour	Monica Lennon	18.7	794	808	827	834	893	945
	SNP	Barry Douglas (incumbent)	18.2	776	792	803	803	862
	Conservative	Margaret Murray	10.1	430	448	471	471
	Independent	Balarabe Baba	3.3	141	170
	Scottish Green	Alasdair Duke	3.1	133
Electorate: 12,361   Valid: 4,256   Spoilt: 112   Quota: 1,065   Turnout: 34.4%

Source:^[12]

2007 election

Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton North and East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Barry Douglas	31.3	1,769
	Labour	David McLachlan	23.6	1,335	1,382	1,401	1,456
	Labour	Mary Smith[note 3]	21.6	1,221	1,255	1,273	1,305	???	???
	Conservative	Andrew Leitch	16.2	917	974	990	1,112	???
	Independent	James Ward	3.8	214	246
	Independent	Hugh Clements	3.4	190	251	394
Electorate: 12,084   Valid: 5,646   Quota: 1,412   Turnout: 48.0%

Source:^[13][14]

Notes

1. In January 2018, Hamilton North and East Labour councillor Davie McLachlan was suspended from the party after allegedly making a racist remark about Anas Sarwar.^[6] Following an investigation, he was cleared of any wrongdoing and the suspension was lifted.^[7]
2. Hamilton North and East SNP councillor Lynn Adams died on 21 September 2015.^[11] A by-election was held on 21 January 2016 and it was won by the SNP's Stephanie Callaghan.
3. Returning councillor for Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair single-member ward.

References

1. "Hamilton North and East". 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 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 17 Hamilton North and East Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
5. "Ward 17 Hamilton North and East Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
6. "Labour councillor suspended amid investigation into Islamophobic slur". Heart Scotland.
7. "Hamilton councillor Davie McLachlan cleared of making racist slur". Daily Record.
8. "Ward 17 Hamilton North and East Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
9. "Ward 17 Hamilton North and East Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
10. "Hamilton North and East by-election - 21 January 2016". South Lanarkshire Council. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
11. "Hamilton councillor and publican Lynn Adams passes away". Daily Record. 23 October 2015.
12. "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
13. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
14. 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.