2022 Shetland Islands Council election

2022 Shetland Islands Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 23 seats to Shetland Islands Council 12 seats needed for a majority
Registered	13,325[1]
Turnout	47.6%[note 1]
First party Second party   Leader Steven Coutts Alex Armitage Party Independent Scottish Green Leader's seat Shetland West (stood down) Shetland South Last election 22 seats, 97.8% Did not contest Seats before 21 0 Seats won 19 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 5,542 442 Percentage 88.2% 7.0% Swing 9.6% New   Third party Fourth party   Leader Robbie McGregor Tom Morton Party SNP Labour Leader's seat Shetland South Shetland North Last election 1 seat, 0.0%[note 2] Did not contest Seats before 1 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 276 0[note 3] Percentage 4.4% 0.0% Swing 4.4% New
Results by wards by partisanship. Results by wards, showing whether the incumbent candidate was re-elected, defeated, or retired.
Leader before election Steven Coutts Independent Leader after election Emma MacDonald Independent

Elections to Shetland Islands Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

The elections were the first held since the passage of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 which allowed wards in Scottish councils containing islands to be reduced to single- and dual-member wards. As a result, the Shetland West ward was reduced from three members to two.

As with previous elections in the area, independent councillors retained a large majority of the seats on the council and retained control of the administration. For the first time, the Greens won a seat on the council and Labour won their first seat on the council since 1994.

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