"" 11 THE DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS OF MAY 1977 J. M. BOCHEL Lecturer in Political Science, University of Dundee. D. T. DENVER Lecturer in Politics, University of Lancaster. In the relatively short tim that has elapsed since the fundamental reform of the structure of local government in Britainl there has been a marked increase in the interest shown in local elections by national politicians, newspapers and tele­ vision, political commentators, political scientists and, even the voters. This increased interest is, to a large extent, a consequence of the reaction of the major political parties to the new structure. The creation of new authorities frequently involved the com­ bination of urban with rural areas and this meant that partisan local politics - long the rule in urban local authorities - spread more widely into areas where previously they had been non­ partisan. This extension of party competition has meant that local elections have taken on the appearance of mini general elections and they have, accordingly, attracted more attention. For the press and the politicians local elections are im­ portant in two main ways· Firstly, they do determine who is to control the local authorities and, since the latter administer a variety of important services, employ large numbers of people, and raise and spend a great deal of money, this is clearly important, especially if it is thought that a controlling party can significantly affect the policy of a local authority. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for national politicians, local election results are now widely employed as indicators of the current popularity of the national parties amongst the electorate. It is evident that voting in local elections is not, on the whole, a product of reactions to purely local issues and candidates. Rather it reflects the electorate's feelings about the national 130 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT YEARBOOK 1978 THE DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS 131 government, national issues, events and personalities. For that categories, partisan and non-partisan. It is clear that while party reason, local election results can be regarded, with necessary competition has been extended and is the main feature of the caution, as mid-term tests of the state of opinion on the per­ elections in most districts, in others local politics remain pre­ formance of governments. They have an advantage over opinion dominantly, indeed overwhelmingly, non-partisan. Nineteen polls in that they involve more people and measure actual votes districts can be allocated clearly to the non-partisan category. rather than hypothetical voting intentions. Moreover, they reflect This group comprises all eight districts in the Highland Region variations in opinion in different parts of the country. In the and all four in Dumfries and Galloway; Moray, Banff and absence of parliamentary by-elections, and in view of the fluidity Buchan, and Kincardine and Deeside in Grampian; Tweeddale, of the political situation, it has been difficult to assess the mood Ettrick and Lauderdale, and Roxburgh in the Borders; and of the Scottish electorate. Other reliable indicators of the levels Argyll and Bute in Strathclyde. These districts together contain of party support have been eagerly sought. In the weeks before about 13% of the Scottish electorate. The first elections in them this year's district electious the press were anxious to see if were dominated by Independents who comprised 81% of the there was any electoral reaction to the government's failure, in candidates, took 81 o/o of the votes and gained 89% of the seats. February, to get its Devolution Bill through the House of Com­ mons. If so, who would benefit by it? There was also interest The remaining 34 districts are allocated to the partisan category. in the Liberals' performance in the first election since the This is not to say that in all of them party competition is equally beginning of their pact with the government. Most of all developed. In a few, such as Gordon, Angus and North-East attention was focused on the S.N.P. Would they succeed, as Fife, there remains a strong Independent tradition but there are they had done in 1967- 8, in making sweeping gains? enough party candidatures to justify their description as Local election results have also attracted the attention of 'partisan'. political scientists. For those interested in parties, electoral In what follows we treat these categories of district separately, systems and voting behaviour, local elections provide a massive, and, since it is upon the partisan districts that most attention and as yet largely untapped, accumulation of data. The regularity is centred, these will be dealt with at rather greater length with which local elections are held, the large number, small than the non-partisan districts. size and diversity of the electoral units, and the variety of patterns of party competition all help to make local election results a potentially rich source of data for developing and testing III hypotheses relating to parties and voting behaviour. This chapter reflects these different levels of interest.. We PARTISAN DISTRICTS are concerned here with elections to the 53 district councils in Scotland.2 The first elections to these authorities, which con­ (i) Participation in Elections stitute the lower tier of local government in Scotland, were held Elections have, as one of their functions, the provision of in 1974. Councillors elected then, retired in 1977 when the second a means whereby citizens can participate in politics by choosing round of elections took place. Parts II, III and IV consist of rulers or representatives and/or by standing for elective positions. an analysis of patterns of participation and of support for the Local elections have in the past been notorious, however, for a parties, and in Part V we try to formulate some general notions low level of participation on the part of the electorate. But if about the effects of partisanship in local politics and the nature electors are to participate as electors, groups or individuals must of the party systems found in Scottish local authorities. offer themselves for election, and so in this brief analysis we will look first at candidatures and then at the turnout of electors· II Table 1 shows the number of party and independent candi­ For the purpose of analysis, and on the basis of the first dates in the 816 wards of partisan districts, and the number set of elections, we have divided the Scottish districts into two who were unopposed, in the 1974 and 1977 elections. 'I!'' 132 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT YEARBOOK 1978 THE DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS 133 TABLE 1 Kinross, North-East Fife, Berwickshire, Eastwood and parts of Kyle and Carrick (25 in 1974, 44 in 1977). On the other hand, CANDIDATES IN PARTISAN DISTRICTS IN 1974 AND 1977 the pattern of no contests in Aberdeen, where Labour took nine 1974 1977 seats unopposed in 1974 and five in 1977, suggests conscious Num1ier Of Whom Number Of Whom policy on the part of the other major parties locally. Unopposed Unopposed It is worth noting, however, that decisions about which Con. 518 21 531 39 wards to leave uncontested seem, on the whole, to be quite Lab. 709 66 686 36 sensible. Of the 98 wards which were uncontested in 1974, 30 Lib 144 - 129 1 were again left with only one candidate in 1977. Of the 68 SNP 254 - 432 3 others, 53 were retained after a contest by the party which Comm 127 - 90 had previously held them and 15 seats changed hands in 1977. Ind 206 11 129 14 Independents lost two and Labour 13, of which eight were taken Others 66 - 94 by the SNP, one by the Conservatives, one by an Independent, -- - - two by the breakaway Scottish Labour Party and one by an Total 2024 98 2091 93 Independent Labour candidate. In retrospect, selective challenges by Conservatives on unopposed Independents and by SNP on Although our evidence for the years before 1974 is in­ Labour, might have paid further dividends. complete, it is clear that the first elections for the new districts Looking at the number of candidates put forward by the witnessed a major increase in party candidatures. In our view parties in the two elections, three features of the figures given this in itself contributed to a dramatic decline in the number in Table 1 merit comment. First there is the increase in the of unopposed returns. In the 1972 burgh elections 38% of the number of Conservative candidates. The increase is not great, seats in Scotland were uncontested, but in 1974 only 12% of but the fact that it has taken place is significant. For a long those in partisan districts were taken without a contest. This time the Conservative Party in Scotland played no part in local level was maintained in 1977 when 11.4% of the seats went politics, being content to leave the task of opposing the Labour uncontested. Party to local groups of "Moderates", "Progressives", "Rate­ Parties, unlike Independent candidates, have an incentive payers", Independents and so on· Clearly, however, the Con­ to contest seats that seem to be hopeless for them. By forcing servatives are now taking local elections more seriously and an election they can keep their flag flying in weak areas, test gradually entering the local political arena as a party. their levels of support for parliamentary purposes, and also tie The decline of Independent candidates is also noteworthy. down their opponents' resources to some· extent. There will, of This is partly due to former Independents now aligning them­ course, be cases in which parties are unable to find suitable selves with the Conservatives and very occasionally with other candidates, feel that even a token fight is not worth the effort, parties, and partly because some Independent councillors in the have no organisation on the ground, or consciously decide to old system of local government tried to win seats against party concentrate their resources in more promising wards.