A Quiet Revolution: STV and the Scottish Council Elections

As in 1999 and 2003, the 2007 elections for Scottish local councils were held on the same day (May 3 rd ) as the Scottish Parliament elections. This was despite the fact that in the interim the Arbuthnott Commission, set up to report on elections in Scotland, had firmly recommended the ‘decoupling’ of the two sets of elections (Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems, 2006, pp. 48-51). As a result, in terms of media attention the local elections were once again largely overshadowed by the Scottish Parliament elections both during the campaign and in the reporting of results. This is a pity because for the first time in a public election in mainland Britain, the Scottish local elections were fought using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral system. The new system had a variety of effects barely-noticed by the media – there was, indeed, a quiet revolution – that will resonate in Scottish local government and politics for a long time to come.