2022 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

Elections to Dumfries and Galloway Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the second consecutive election, the Conservatives were returned as the largest party with 16 seats but remained shy of an overall majority. The Scottish National Party (SNP) increased their vote share by 7.5% but failed to make any gains and were again returned as the second-largest party with 11 seats. Labour lost two seats to return nine councillors while the Liberal Democrats retained their only seat. Six independent candidates were also elected – an increase of two.

The Labour–SNP coalition administration retained control of the council with support from two independents and Lib Dem councillor Richard Brodie. Cllrs Stephen Thompson and Linda Dorward were elected co-leaders of the council. However, the partnership collapsed less than a year after the election as the Conservatives took minority control of the council.

At the previous election in 2017, the Conservatives gained two seats to hold 16 and replaced Labour as the largest party on the council. Labour lost four seats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) gained one as both returned 11 councillors. The two parties would form a coalition to run the council. The Liberal Democrats retained their only seat while the number of independents fell from seven to four.

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The election used the nine wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 32 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Between the 2017 and 2022 elections, there were a few changes to the composition of the council. All of these were due to changes in the political affiliations of councillors. Former council leader and Labour councillor Ronnie Nicolson and Conservative councillor David James resigned from their respective parties to sit as independents. Labour councillor Jim Dempster was suspended from the party following an Islamophobic comment about then Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf. Labour councillor Tommy Sloan resigned from the party and sat as an independent councillor and member of the Dumfries and Galloway Socialists Group while SNP councillor Dougie Campbell left the party and stood as an independent at the 2022 election. SNP councillor Andrew Wood initially resigned from the party to sit as an independent. He later joined the Conservatives. There were two by-elections and both resulted in Conservative holds.

Many prominent elected members stood down at this election, including the leader of the council, and former Dumfriesshire MSP, Elaine Murray.

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The total number of candidates fell from 88 in 2017 to 74. The Conservatives named the most candidates at 24 - eight more than in 2017 when both Labour and the SNP named more candidates. Labour named 14 candidates in 2022 while the SNP named 12 candidates - both down from the 17 they named respectively in 2017. The Greens named 10 candidates, an increase of three from 2017. In 2017, the number of independent candidates (26) outstripped the number of candidates named by any individual political party but only eight independent candidates stood in 2022. The Liberal Democrats named five candidates - an increase of two from 2017. The Alba Party contested an election in Dumfries and Galloway for the first time while the Libertarians did not contest the election as they had done in 2017.

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Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils.

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Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

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The Conservatives, the SNP and independent councillor Willie Scobie retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives gained a seat from Labour. Independent candidate Tommy Sloan was elected as a Labour candidate in 2017 but later resigned from the party.

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The Conservatives (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour gained a seat from former independent councillor Jim McColm.

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The Conservatives and the SNP held the seats they won at the previous election while independent candidate Dougie Campbell gained a seat from former independent councillor Jane Maitland. In 2017, Cllr Campbell was elected as an SNP candidate but later resigned from the party. He was re-elected as an independent candidate.

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The Conservatives, the SNP and independent councillor Iain Howie retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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The Conservatives, the SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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Labour (2), the SNP (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Jim Dempster gained a seat from Labour. In 2017, Cllr Dempster was elected as a Labour candidate but was later suspended by the party. He was re-elected as an independent candidate.

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The Conservatives (2), the SNP (1) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained one of the two seats and independent candidate Robert Slater gained a seat from Labour.

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The Conservatives, the SNP, Labour and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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The Conservatives (2), the SNP (1) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

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Labour retained the seat they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives retained one of their two seats and lost one to independent candidate Denis Male.

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Despite winning the most seats for the second consecutive election, the Conservatives remained in opposition. A coalition of SNP, Labour, independent and Liberal Democrat councillors – dubbed a "rainbow coalition" in the media including by the BBC - came together to run the council. Former Labour and SNP group leaders Elaine Murray and Rob Davidson stood down at the 2022 election. They were replaced in the roles by Cllr Linda Dorward and Cllr Stephen Thompson respectively. Cllr Dorward and Cllr Thompson were elected as co-leaders of the council. The Conservatives were brought into the leadership fold in June 2022 when cross-party panels were created.

In July 2022, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar claimed that the coalition was an interim arrangement and "not for the duration of the entire council term". In response, South Scotland MSP Emma Harper urged Sarwar not to "ruin arrangements" between councillors in Dumfries and Galloway.

Ultimately, the coalition agreement in full lasted only eight months after Labour left the council leadership citing "clear political and policy differences" in February 2023. Cllr Dorward quit as co-leader leaving Cllr Thomson as leader of the council. Lib Dem councillor Richard Brodie was selected as deputy council leader. The Conservatives attempted to take control of the council by proposing group leader Cllr Gail MacGregor as council leader but the move failed by 26 votes to 16. MacGregor described the rainbow coalition as having "thunderclouds surrounding it" and that it seemed to be in "disarray".

In March 2023, the coalition collapsed after Labour abstentions coupled with independent and Lib Dem support for the Conservatives on budget motions saw the Conservative budget pass. As a result, Cllr Thompson resigned after his position had become untenable. One week later, Cllr MacGregor was elected as council leader as the Conservatives took control of the council with support from independent and Lib Dem councillors. Independent councillor Dougie Campbell blamed the collapse of the coalition on the "irresponsible" behaviour of the Labour group and "interference" from party headquarters.

During 2024, Cllr John Denerley became an independent councillor and was no longer part of the Conservatives.

Just over two years into the Conservative regime, seven councillors quit the party following a row over the direction of the administration. Four of them – Cllrs Andrew Giusti, Chrissie Hill, David Inglis and Richard Marsh – formed a new political grouping on the council called Novantae. The other three, Cllrs Ian Carruthers, Karen Carruthers and Andrew Wood, formed a separate independent group.

In October 2022, Sandy Whitelaw, Labour councillor for Mid Galloway and Wigtown West, resigned for personal reasons. A by-election was held on 8 December 2022 and was won by Conservative candidate Richard Marsh.

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In September 2025, Willie Scobie, long-serving independent councillor for Stranraer and the Rhins, resigned for health reasons. A by-election was held on 20 November 2025 and was won by Conservative candidate Julie Currie.

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