1988 Scottish local elections

Local elections were held in Scotland on 5 May 1988, to elect members to all 53 district councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which had established the two-tier system of regions and districts.

1988 Scottish local elections

5 May 1988 (1988-05-05)

First party Second party   Leader Neil Kinnock Margaret Thatcher Party Labour Conservative Leader since 2 October 1983 11 February 1975 Seats won 553 162 Seat change 8 27 Percentage 42.6 19.4 Swing 3.1 2.0   Third party Fourth party   Leader Gordon Wilson Malcolm Bruce Party SNP SSLD Leader since 15 September 1979 3 March 1988 Seats won 113 84 Seat change 54 6 Percentage 21.3 8.4 Swing 9.6 4.4

Colours denote the winning party with outright control

National results

Summary of the 1988 Scottish district council election results

Parties		Votes	Votes %	Wards
	Labour		42.6	553
	SNP		21.3	113
	Conservative		19.4	162
	SSLD		8.4	84
	Independent		6.4	231
	Other
Total			n/a	~1158

Results by region

Borders

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Berwickshire		Conservative		Conservative		Details
Ettrick and Lauderdale		Independent		Independent		Details
Roxburghshire		Independent		Independent		Details
Tweeddale		Independent		Independent		Details

Central

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Clackmannan		Labour		Labour		Details
Falkirk		Labour		Labour		Details
Stirling		Labour		No overall control		Details

Dumfries and Galloway

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Annandale and Eskdale		Independent		SSLD		Details
Wigtown		Independent		Independent		Details
Nithsdale		Independent		Labour		Details
Stewartry		Independent		Independent		Details

Fife

District	1984 result		1998 result		Turnout	Details
Dunfermline		Labour		Labour		Details
Kirkcaldy		Labour		Labour		Details
North-East Fife		Alliance		SSLD		Details

Grampian

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Banff and Buchan		Independent		Independent		Details
City of Aberdeen		Labour		No overall control		Details
Gordon		Independent		No overall control		Details
Kincardine and Deeside		Independent		Independent		Details
Moray		Independent		Independent		Details

Highland

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Badenoch and Strathspey		Independent		Independent		Details
Caithness		Independent		Independent		Details
Inverness		Independent		Independent		Details
Lochaber		Independent		Independent		Details
Nairn		Independent		Independent		Details
Ross and Cromarty		Independent		Independent		Details
Skye and Lochalsh		Independent		Independent		Details
Sutherland		Independent		Independent		Details

Lothian

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
City of Edinburgh		Labour		Labour		Details
East Lothian		Labour		Labour		Details
Midlothian		Labour		Labour		Details
West Lothian		Labour		Labour		Details

Strathclyde

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Argyll and Bute		Independent		Independent		Details
Bearsden and Milngavie		Conservative		Conservative		Details
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth		Labour		No overall control		Details
Clydebank		Labour		Labour		Details
Cunninghame		Labour		Labour		Details
Cumnock and Doon Valley		Labour		Labour		Details
Dumbarton		Labour		No overall control		Details
East Kilbride		Labour		Labour		Details
Eastwood		Conservative		Conservative		Details
City of Glasgow		Labour		Labour		Details
Hamilton		Labour		Labour		Details
Inverclyde		Labour		Labour		Details
Kilmarnock and Loudoun		Labour		Labour		Details
Kyle and Carrick		Conservative		Labour		Details
Clydesdale		Labour		Labour		Details
Motherwell		Labour		Labour		Details
Monklands		Labour		Labour		Details
Strathkelvin		Labour		Labour		Details

Tayside

District	1984 result		1988 result		Turnout	Details
Angus		SNP		SNP		Details
City of Dundee		Labour		Labour		Details
Perth and Kinross		Conservative		No overall control		Details