The 2022 Council Elections in Scotland will be held on Thursday, 5 May.
Local Government comprises 32 local authorities (or councils) which provide public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Boards operate independently of the central Government and are accountable to their electorates for their services.
The last Scottish council elections were held in 2017 on Thursday, 4 May, with all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities in play. 2017’s local election results saw the SNP lose seven council seats and one local control. Still, the party also declared a historic victory in gaining Glasgow City Council from Scottish Labour. It saw Scotland’s most significant local authority change hands from Scottish Labour for the first time since 1980. The last Scottish council elections were held in 2017 on Thursday, 4 May, with all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities in play.
2017’s local election results saw the SNP lose seven of their council seats and one local authority. Still, the party also declared a historic victory in gaining Glasgow City Council from Scottish Labour. It saw Scotland’s most significant local authority change hands from Scottish Labour for the first time since 1980. The SNP came out on top with 431 councillors elected in 2017, compared with the Scottish Conservatives’ 276 and 262 seats for Scottish Labour. Eighty-eight independent councillors were elected, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens achieved 67 and 19 councillors. The Turnout was 46.9% which Increase7.3% since 2012.
The latest Scotland election was held was the 2021 Scottish Parliament election on 6 May 2021.
The main parties that ran for election were the Scottish National Party (SNP), led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Conservatives, led by Douglas Ross; Scottish Labour, led by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, led by Willie Rennie, and the Scottish Greens, led by their co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. The election concluded with the SNP winning a fourth consecutive term in Government, winning 64 seats and an increase of one.
The SNP gained Edinburgh Central, Ayr, and East Lothian and won the largest share of the popular vote and the most significant number of constituency seats in any Scottish Parliament election. The Greens won 8 seats, their best result to date at a Scottish Parliament election, while the Conservatives retained second place with 31 seats.
History of independence
First War of Independence. Scots, led by William Wallace, tried to throw off English influence after King Edward I of England invaded Scotland in 1296. The following year Robert the Bruce led a revolt, and after years of war, Scotland defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. In 1707 The Treaty of the Union created the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1979. A referendum on Scottish devolution was held but did not achieve the necessary 40 per cent of the electorate.
The introduction of the Poll Tax by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government in 1989 helped revive the independence movement and in 1998 Scottish Act assigned devolved powers to a Scottish Parliament. The latest try for independence was The referendum on Scottish independence held on 18 September 2014 saw Scotland vote to remain part of the United Kingdom (UK), with 55% voting against the proposal for Scotland to become an independent country and 45% voting in favour.
The debate over the timing of a second independence referendum may also well be answered by Thursday’s vote.
If the SNP win a majority, the party will likely plough ahead with its proposal to hold a referendum within the next five years. Even if the party does not win an outright majority, support from the Scottish Greens could still lend credibility to plans for a vote on independence in the life of the next Parliament.
Brexit vote
Considering that Scotland wants to remain in the EU and votes for it with about 62.0%, There is no doubt that Brexit has re-energised the campaign for independence in Scotland. The fact that Scotland had to leave the EU with the rest of the UK, despite 62% of Scots voting Remain in the Brexit referendum, created a grievance and a sense that Scotland’s voice was being ignored. The Scottish National Party is committed to holding an independence referendum, and rejoining the European Union will be central to its independence ambitions.
Based on SNP official website, “After the SNP decisively won the 2021 election and there is an increased pro-independence majority, there can be no moral or democratic justification for Boris Johnson or any Westminster government to obstruct the right of the people of Scotland to decide their future. We propose that the referendum be held once the Covid crisis has passed – but in good time deciding that we want to equip our Parliament with the powers it needs to drive our long-term recovery.” The Scottish Government has published the document ‘Scotland’s right to choose: putting Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, which makes a case for giving the people of Scotland a choice about their future, specifically a referendum on independence.
Conclusion
This election is held when people face the most significant drop in living standards since the 1950s, with warnings that 1.3m people across the UK could be pushed into poverty as energy, fuel and food costs soar. The poll undertaken by Survation for the election suggests the SNP are on track for securing 44 per cent of all first preference votes in the council elections on 5 May, with Labour well behind in second on 23 per cent and the Scottish Conservatives in third on 18 per cent.
It is important to note that the economic pressure has been a significant driver of division on the island. Just as some parties chose to exit from the EU due to financial reasons, therefore the idea that unions could be left due to reducing economic pressure could now be used in other parts of the isle, such as Ireland and Scotland. This is a point that the creators of Brexit may not have considered that its main idea can spill over to the UK parts. As Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland has specified, Scotland is not a region questioning its place in a more significant unitary state; we are a country in a voluntary union of nations. Our friends in the rest of the UK will always be our closest allies and neighbours. Still, in line with the principle of self-determination, people in Scotland have the right to determine whether the time has come for a new, better relationship in which we can thrive as a genuine partnership of equals.
Eventually, the economic pressures and the idea of independence led by the SNP made the forthcoming elections necessary for Scotland and Britain.
