The formation of South Lanarkshire Council’s new administration remains up in the air, with no confirmation as to who will be in power.
Following last Thursday’s election, the SNP are once again the largest single party on the local authority.
The Nationalist group saw off a challenge from Labour but fell short of obtaining an overall majority.
And although the SNP still does not command an overall majority, it has led a minority administration in South Lanarkshire for the last five years.
Councillor John Ross, the leader of the SNP group, kept his seat in Hamilton South. He said: “It is incredibly difficult to obtain a majority in the STV (single transferable vote) voting system, however as a group we increased our share of the vote and maintained the same number of councillors as last time (27).
“We would of course like to form the administration but other groups may also have that aspiration and discussions will be needed with other groups to try and secure support for our position.
“It’s too early to give an answer as some of the other groups have not as yet elected their leadership, I have been elected again as the SNP group leader and Maureen Chalmers as deputy leader and when a position becomes clearer I would be happy to share its outcome.”
While the SNP retained its 27 seats, Labour increased by two to 24. The Conservative group lost half of its seats, finishing on seven. The Liberal Democrats now have three seats, up two from the previous election. There are also two Independent councillors and the Greens have their first South Lanarkshire councillor.
Across South Lanarkshire, a total of 114,524 people voted in the election.
The SNP received 36.9 per cent of the vote, Labour 31.7 per cent and the Conservatives 17.2 per cent. Liberal Democrats picked up 5.4 per cent, Independent councillors gained 4.8 per cent and the Greens received 1.5 per cent of votes.
Labour group leader, Councillor Joe Fagan, retained his seat in East Kilbride North. He said: “Labour’s share of the vote increased right across South Lanarkshire and we have increased the size of our council group.
"We are now a stronger force in the council thanks to the trust people have placed in us and we are determined to use our voting power to make South Lanarkshire Council work better for our communities.
“No single political group has achieved a majority on South Lanarkshire Council and so parties have to explore all the options available to them to ensure good governance and sound management of people’s services.”
It was a tough result for the Conservatives who had their seats reduced from 14 to 7.
The Liberal Democrats took three seats, while the Green Party gained their first seat in South Lanarkshire and two independent candidates had success at the ballot box.
Councillor Alex Allison, who kept his seat in Clydesdale East and is leader of the Conservative group, said: “We are disappointed in losing colleagues for their communities. The numbers have changed slightly but we are still in a position to influence the council and will continue to work on behalf of our constituents.”
Leader of the South Lanarkshire Liberal Democrat group, Councillor Robert Brown, who retained his seat in Rutherglen South, said: This was a good result for the Liberal Democrats – with two great gains from the Conservatives bringing us an influential elected group of three.
"We also missed two other seats by small amounts. I am particularly delighted though that Mark McGeever won in Hamilton West and Earnock and Dr. Norman Rae in Cambuslang West.
“The new Liberal Democrat group will be very influential on the new council where again no party has a majority. This situation is good for democracy and good for South Lanarkshire. Liberal Democrats will be discussing with other parties what the best arrangements will be for the next five years for running the council and serving the interests of local people. I believe we have the ideas and the vision to provide new hope for South Lanarkshire at a very difficult time for people”
Kirsten Robb of the Greens was elected in East Kilbride East, becoming the party’s first South Lanarkshire councillor. She was contacted for comment.
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