Scottish council elections: SNP edged to victory by a whisker, figures show

THE SNP secured victory in the popular vote share in the council elections by the narrowest of margins, according to figures released yesterday.

Nationalists increased their share of first preference votes to 32.32 per cent, with Labour on 31.39 per cent. This represents a 4.46 per cent increase on the SNP’s 2007 performance, with Labour’s vote going up by 3.24 per cent.

The Tory vote fell by 2.26 per cent and the Lib Dem vote by 6.10 per cent.

However, the SNP share of the vote is a massive drop on the 45 per cent they secured in last year’s Holyrood election landslide. Labour is well up on last year, when it polled 26 per cent on the regional list and 31 per cent on the constituency vote.

SNP campaign director Derek Mackay said: “This was a triple success for the SNP – more votes, more councillors and more gains than any other party.”

Labour insists it was the biggest party in more councils than the SNP.