1970 Edinburgh Corporation election

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1970 Edinburgh Corporation election

← 1969 5 May 1970 (1970-05-05) 1971 →
23 of the 69 seats in Edinburgh Corporation 35 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader James Slack John Kane George Galbraith Party Progressives Labour SNP Last election 29 17 10 Seats before 29 19 8 Seats won 10 11 0 Seats after 31 21 7 Seat change 2 2 1 Popular vote 40,969 47,147 19,447 Percentage 30.3% 34.9% 14.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ronald Duff Party Conservative Liberal Independent Last election 7 2 2 Seats before 7 2 4 Seats won 0 1 0 Seats after 6 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 13,822 12,837 46 Percentage 10.2% 9.5% 0.03%
Results by ward.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

An Election to Edinburgh Corporation was held on the 5 May 1970. 23 seats were up for election.^[1]

Following the election, Edinburgh Corporation was composed of 31 Progressives, 21 Labour councillors, 7 SNP councillors, 6 Conservatives, 2 Liberals, and 2 independents. The SNP saw its vote collapse, failing to win a single ward and losing the only ward it was defending.^[1]

Following the election, the Progressives and Conservative coalition retained control of the council with a majority of five seats.

A total of 135,188 residents voted.

Edinburgh Corporation election, 1970^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	11	2	0	2	47.8	34.9	47,147
	Progressives	10	3	1	2	43.5	30.3	40,969
	Conservative	1	0	1	1	4.3	10.2	13,822
	Liberal	1	0	0		4.3	9.5	12,837
	SNP	0	0	1	1	0.0	14.4	19,447
	Communist	0	0	0		0.0	0.5	662
	Special Branch for Special Action	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	258
	Independent	0	0	2	2	0.0	0.0	46

Broughton^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	A. Bailey	3,199
	Labour	R. Cairns	1,302
	SNP	G. C. MacDougall	703
	Liberal	R. J. Rickard	691
Majority			1,897
Turnout				47.71%
	Progressives hold

Calton^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Cook	2,119
	Progressives	W. S. Stone	1,833
Majority			286
Turnout				38.31%
	Labour hold

Central Leith^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	T. McGregor	2,232
	SNP	J. L. Geddes	1,000
	Communist	A. M. K. McLaren	110
Majority			1,232
Turnout				29.77%
	Labour hold

Colinton^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Catherine Filsell	4,630
	Labour	T.J. Davies	2,593
	SNP	Joan Crawford	1,247
	Liberal	Joan Gallacher	1,145
Majority			2,037
Turnout				43.03%
	Progressives hold

Corstorphine^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	R. C. Simpson	4,264
	Liberal	Vera Heggie	1,967
	Labour	D. M. Henderson	1,352
	SNP	G. W. Telford	872
Majority			2,297
Turnout				48.94%
	Progressives gain from Independent

Craigentinny^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Phyllis Herriot	3,389
	Conservative	W. R. V. Percy	2,091
	SNP	Jean Cameron	885
	Communist	T. Burns	71
Majority			1,298
Turnout				42.81%
	Labour hold

Craigmillar^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Kane	3,314
	SNP	C. T. Cadden	1,169
	Communist	M. D'Arcy	109
Majority			2,145
Turnout				29.53%
	Labour hold

George Square^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	J. Slack	1,469
	Labour	Mary Hutchison	828
	SNP	W. K. Archibald	719
	Special Branch for Special Action	R. Tait	258
Majority			641
Turnout				32.02%
	Progressives hold

Gorgie-Dalry^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Swanson	2,558
	Conservative	J. L. Chisholm	1,818
	SNP	A. Symington	839
Majority			740
Turnout				37.69%
	Labour hold

Holyrood^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Rogan	1,359
	SNP	N. W. Laurie	550
	Conservative	D. Christieson	497
	Communist	Angela Hopkinson	48
	Independent	J. Sheppard	46
Majority			809
Turnout				35.24%
	Labour hold

Liberton^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. D. McWilliam	5,583
	Conservative	Irene Hurst	4,132
	SNP	A. Stoddart	1,078
Majority			1,451
Turnout				42.23%
	Labour gain from Conservative

Merchiston^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	L. Smith	3,393
	Conservative	G. G. Norval	1,636
	Labour	G. J. Will	752
	SNP	H. J. Morris	324
Majority			1,757
Turnout				51.89%
	Liberal hold

Morningside^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Nansi Mansbridge	3,519
	Liberal	G. Duke	1,575
	SNP	D. Kelbie	612
Majority			1,944
Turnout				42.26%
	Progressives hold

Murrayfield-Cramond^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	R. M. Knox	5,158
	Labour	L. M. Christie	2,067
	Liberal	C. Dow	989
	SNP	D. Purves	958
Majority			3,091
Turnout				42.33%
	Progressives hold

Newington^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	G. Hedderwick	3,715
	Labour	J. C. Campbell	1,652
	Liberal	W. McLeod	1,265
	SNP	R. J. D. Scott	819
Majority			2,063
Turnout				45.13%
	Progressives gain from Independent

Pilton^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Williamson	3,652
	Conservative	R. Beattie	1,066
	SNP	W. R. Platt	994
	Communist	C. Manus	148
Majority			2,586
Turnout				29.07%
	Labour hold

Portobello^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	S. Cavaye	3,393
	SNP	W. T. Telford	1,769
	Labour	J. Anderson	1,310
	Communist	D. Cameron	78
Majority			1,624
Turnout				45.22%
	Progressives gain from SNP

St. Andrews^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Duff	1,841
	Labour	T. H. Greig	712
Majority			1,129
Turnout				32.73%
	Conservative hold

St. Bernard's^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	J. Millar	3,289
	Labour	Johan Buchanan	1,689
	Liberal	C. S. Waterman	1,165
	SNP	G. M. Macintyre	624
Majority			1,600
Turnout				37.44%
	Progressives hold

St. Giles^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Stuart	1,384
	SNP	B. C. Rutherford	790
	Conservative	D. H. Brydon	668
Majority			594
Turnout				30.30%
	Labour hold

Sighthill^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Foulkes	3,806
	SNP	R. McKenna	1,478
	Conservative	B. Shiels	1,139
	Liberal	Pamela King	647
	Communist	W. Millar	98
Majority			2,328
Turnout				39.63%
	Labour hold

South Leith^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. E. Boyack	2,336
	Progressives	T. S. Ramage	2,077
	SNP	J. S. Marshall	1,255
Majority			259
Turnout				43.40%
	Labour gain from Progressives

West Leith^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressives	Margaret Ross	3,357
	Labour	Sonja Godfrey	1,158
	SNP	G. Osborne	762
Majority			2,199
Turnout			5,277	46.72%
	Progressives hold