Low turnout sees councillors elected with 7% of electorate
LOW turnout in last week’s election saw councillors in Glasgow elected with as little as under 7% of the electorate. Turnout in the election for Glasgow City Council last week dropped again with less than 40% of voters casting a ballot. In some areas, the turnout was down to under 30%.
Council elections usually have a lower turnout than Scottish Parliament or UK General Elections, however, it has dropped again from five years ago.
In 16 of the city’s 23 multi-member wards, the turnout was lower than in 2017, it increased in six wards and one stayed the same.
Across the city, turnout dropped narrowly from 38.8% to 38.2% but with numbers already low the level of engagement is a cause for concern.
The lowest in Glasgow was the Anderston/City/Yorkhill ward where just 28.1% took part.
Others with lower than average included North East at 30.4%, Canal, 31.2% and Calton at 31.9%
The areas with the highest turnout were Victoria Park which still had below half of the electorate taking part at 49.7%.
Others that were above the average, for the city, included Pollokshields on 48%, Partick East / Kelvindale at 47.1%, Langside, at 47%,
Linn on 41.2% and Newlands on 41%.
There is a correlation between deprivation and turnout. The areas with the lowest turnout have higher levels of deprivation, with Anderston Canal and Calton in the three lowest for turnout.
The areas with higher turnout tend to be in parts of the city with lower levels of deprivation.
Victoria Park takes in Broomhill and Jordanhill, while Linn covers Curmunnock, and Muirend, as well as Castlemilk.
Langside also covers Kings Park and Mount Florida while Partick
East/Kelvindale takes in Kelvinside, Hyndland and Dowanhill. It means that even in the ward with the highest turnout more than half of those eligible to vote took part. Councillors in a four-member ward needed to get 20% of all votes cast to get elected and 25% in a three member ward.
In Victoria Park, on 49.7%, Euniss Jassemi was elected for Labour with 2447 votes, the highest in the ward for first preferences. While it was 28% of votes cast, with 17,512 people eligible to vote in the area, he was chosen by just 14% of the electorate, Feargal Dalton, of the SNP, was also elected at stage one with 2291 votes, just 13% of the electorate. Lana Reid-McConnell, of the
Greens, got elected with 2199 votes after transfers, just 12.5%.
In Anderston/City/Yorkhill, where turnout at 28.1%, was the lowest, Christy Mearns was top of first preferences for the Greens, with 1527 votes.
She was elected with just 7% of the electorate voting for her.
Similarly, Philip Braat, for Labour, won 1439 just 6.6% of the electorate and Eva Bolander, of the SNP, was also elected at stage one with 1349, just 6.2% of those eligible to vote.
In Calton, where turnout was 31.9% Greg Hepburn was elected for the SNP with 1472, just 7.5% of the electorate.
Cecelia O’lone and George Redmond, of Labour, got elected with 6.8% and 6.3% respectively and Linda Pike, of the SNP, with 8.5% after more than 500 transfers from the Green candidate put her over the threshold.