1974 Banff and Buchan District Council election

1974 Banff and Buchan District Council election
All 18 seats to Banff and Buchan District Council; 10 seats needed for a majority
	Council Leader after election ; ; Independent

Elections to Banff and Buchan District Council were held on 7 May 1974, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the first election to the district council following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The election used the 10 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Banff and Buchan was a non-partisan district. Only a few members of political parties contested the election and all but three of the 18 seats were won by independents.

Background

Prior to 1974, the area that was to become Banff and Buchan, was split between two counties – the County of Banff and the County of Aberdeen. Within that were five of the 11 burghs of the County of Banff (Aberchirder, Banff, Fraserburgh, Macduff and Portsoy) and two of the 10 burghs of the County of Aberdeen (Peterhead, Rosehearty and Turriff). These were all small burghs so the burgh council had limited powers which included some control over planning as well as local taxation, building control, housing, lighting and drainage with the rest of the local government responsibility falling to the county council.^[2]

Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs – which had resulted in a mishmash of local government areas in which some small burghs had larger populations but far fewer responsibilities than some large burghs and even counties^[2] – was to be replaced by a new system of regional and district councils. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 implemented most of the recommendations in the Wheatly Report. The northeastern part of the County of Baff which included the five burghs was combined with the northern part of the County of Abrdeen and was placed into the Banff and Buchan district within the Grampian region.^[2]^[3]

Results

1974 Banff and Buchan District Council election result
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Independent	15	N/A	94.4	71.4	14,306	N/A
Conservative	2	N/A	11.1	12.6	2,518	N/A
Labour	1	N/A	5.6	13.5	2,704	N/A
Progressives	0	N/A	0.0	2.6	522	N/A

Source:^[4]

Ward results

Macduff

Macduff
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Wood	443	46.3
	Independent	S. Mair	275	28.7
	Independent	A. Smith	239	25.0
Majority			168	17.6
Turnout			957	36.2
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

King Edward-Gamrie

King Edward-Gamrie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	R. Thompson	416	63.5
	Conservative	W. Sharp	239	36.5
Majority			177	27.0
Turnout			655	31.6
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Banff-Hilton

Banff-Hilton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A. Gordon	458	34.0
	Independent	J. Smith	349	25.9
	Labour	J. Reid	347	25.7
	Independent	M. Duncan	153	11.3
	Independent	R. Kelbie	42	3.1
Majority			109	8.1
Turnout			1,349	44.8
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fordyce/Boyndie

Fordyce/Boyndie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Hay	482	41.2
	Independent	W. Stephen	327	28.0
	Independent	A. Milne	220	18.8
	Independent	C. McKay	140	12.0
Majority			155	13.2
Turnout			1,169	38.7
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Aberchirder

Aberchirder
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Shand	598	43.7
	Progressive Party (Scotland)	E. Mutch	522	38.2
	Conservative	N. Wilson	248	18.1
Majority			76	5.5
Turnout			1,368	51.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Turriff

Turriff
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Rev. P. MacQuoid	912	58.8
	Labour	J. Dawson	638	41.2
Majority			274	17.6
Turnout			1,550	50.6
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Deer

Deer
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W .Cruickshank	870	62.5
	Independent	H. Bain	521	37.5
Majority			349	25.0
Turnout			1,391	42.3
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fyvie/Monquhitter

Fyvie/Monquhitter
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Gordon	500	51.3
	Independent	J. Shiach	474	48.7
Majority			26	2.6
Turnout			974	41.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Meethill/Boddam

Meethill/Boddam
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W. Cormack	458	64.5
	Labour	F. Duthie	252	35.5
Majority			206	29.0
Turnout			710	24.2
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Clerkhill

Clerkhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W. MacDonald	702	78.8
	Labour	S. Sissons	189	21.2
Majority			513	57.6
Turnout			891	31.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Kirktown/Roanheads

Kirktown/Roanheads
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Baird	Unopposed
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Buchanhaven/Catto

Buchanhaven/Catto
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Alexander	504	59.2
	Labour	E. Sudding	347	40.8
Majority			157	18.4
Turnout			851	26.7
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fraserburgh Saltoun

Fraserburgh Saltoun
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	D. Swanson	512	46.6
	Independent	H. Tocher	349	31.8
	Labour	G. Young	238	21.7
Majority			163	14.8
Turnout			1,099	37.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fraserburgh South/Rathen

Fraserburgh South/Rathen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Fraser	738	47.1
	Independent	A. May	642	41.0
	Labour	G. McFarlane	187	11.9
Majority			96	6.1
Turnout			1,567	45.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Fraserburgh/Broadsea

Fraserburgh/Broadsea
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A. Noble	718	67.4
	Labour	G. Lillie	347	32.6
Majority			371	34.8
Turnout			1,065	33.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

North Buchanorth

North Buchanorth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	D. Murison	529	36.2
	Independent	W. Simpson	423	28.9
	Independent	R. Dawson	351	24.0
	Labour	J. Davie	159	10.9
Majority			106	7.3
Turnout			1,462	43.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Longside/Cruden

Longside/Cruden
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	L. Cantlay	742	56.8
	Independent	J. Michie	465	35.6
	Independent	G. Horne	100	7.7
Majority			277	21.2
Turnout			1,307	47.9
	Conservative win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Rattray/Strichen

Rattray/Strichen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	N. Cowie	1,289	76.5
	Independent	S. Leith	396	23.5
Majority			893	53.0
Turnout			1,685	57.8
	Conservative win (new seat)

Source:^[4]

Aftermath

Banff and Buchan, like the other three districts in Grampian excluding the City of Aberdeen, was non-partisan and controlled by Independent candidates who won all 15 of the 18 seats. The Conservatives controlled the regional council which held its first election on the same day. Across Scotland, Labour won the most votes, the most seats and the most councils of any party.^[4]

References

^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
^ Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR 20000437.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 5 April 2025.

[1] "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2025.

[Info_paper-2] "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2025.

[3] Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR 20000437.

[SRE1974-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 5 April 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Council elections in Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire Council	1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022
Grampian Regional Council	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Abolished
Banff and Buchan District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished
Gordon District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished
Kincardine and Deeside District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992 Abolished

v t e (1973 ←) 1974 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1975)
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