East Lothian Council - Wards and Councillors

Scottish council · Scotland · 22 seats in 6 wards · All seats elected every five years · Next election 6 May 2027

Labour run East Lothian Council as a minority administration. The council has 22 councillors in 6 wards. Seats by party: Labour 10, SNP 6, Conservative 4, Other 1, Green 1. The next election is on 6 May 2027.

Control

Seats by party

Labour (Minority)

22 seats - 12 for a majority

Labour 10Conservative 4Green 1SNP 6Other 1

Seat changes since the 5 May 2022 election Other +1 SNP −1

Vote share at the 5 May 2022 election (22 seats, all wards)

ShareSeats won

Labour33.0%10

SNP28.2%7

Conservative21.9%4

Green9.9%1

Lib Dem5.3%0

Other1.6%0

Next election

6 May 2027

all 22 seats up, then every five years

Largest party

Labour 10

2 short of the 12 needed for a majority

Constituencies

2 overlap

2024Now

Voted Leave in 2016

35%

GB 52%

Wards

Who holds each ward

LabourConservativeSNP

Coloured by the party holding most of the ward's seats today; where seats are split evenly, by the party with the higher share at the last election.

All 6 wards

Councillors and last results

Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.

Ward and councillors	Last election
Dunbar and East Linton Donna Collins, Lyn Jardine, Norman Hampshire	5 May 2022 SNP 26.8% lead 1.5 pts
Haddington and Lammermuir Tom Trotter, George McGuire, Shamin Akhtar, John McMillan	5 May 2022 Labour 36.4% lead 10.2 pts
Musselburgh Andrew Forrest, Cher Cassini, Shona McIntosh, Ruaridh Bennett	5 May 2022 SNP 34.3% lead 3.3 pts
North Berwick Coastal Liz Allan, Carol McFarlane, Jeremy Findlay	5 May 2022 Conservative 39.0% lead 17.9 pts
Preston, Seton and Gosford Neil Gilbert, Lachlan Bruce, Colin Yorkston, Brooke Ritchie	5 May 2022 Labour 39.7% lead 9.9 pts
Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry Lee-Anne Menzies, Colin McGinn, Kenny McLeod, Fiona Dugdale	5 May 2022 Labour 45.6% lead 12.6 pts

Dunbar and East Linton

Donna Collins ConservativeLyn Jardine SNPNorman Hampshire Labour

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

SNP26.8%

Labour25.3%

Conservative21.4%

Scottish Green15.1%

Lib Dem10.1%

Independence for Scotland Party0.7%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
Lyn Ann Jardine Elected	SNP	1,742	26.8%
Norman Hampshire Elected	Labour	1,643	25.3%
Donna Collins Elected	Conservative	1,395	21.4%
Mark James	Scottish Green	984	15.1%
Jacquie Bell	Lib Dem	659	10.1%
Cris Thacker	Independence for Scotland Party	44	0.7%
Timothy Anderson	Scottish Family Party	38	0.6%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

Haddington and Lammermuir

George McGuire ConservativeJohn McMillan LabourShamin Akhtar LabourTom Trotter SNP

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)

Labour36.4%

SNP26.2%

Conservative21.9%

Scottish Green7.4%

Lib Dem5.5%

Independent1.5%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
George McGuire Elected	Conservative	1,714	21.9%
Shamin Akhtar Elected	Labour	1,625	20.8%
John McMillan Elected	Labour	1,228	15.7%
Tom Trotter Elected	SNP	1,107	14.1%
Graeme MacGregor	SNP	944	12.1%
Jackie Swailes	Scottish Green	577	7.4%
Stuart Crawford	Lib Dem	432	5.5%
David Barrett	Independent	118	1.5%
Morgwn Davies	Alba	85	1.1%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

Musselburgh

Andrew Forrest LabourCher Cassini SNPRuaridh Bennett LabourShona McIntosh Scottish Green

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)

SNP34.3%

Labour31.0%

Conservative14.7%

Scottish Green13.5%

Lib Dem4.2%

Alba1.1%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
Cher Cassini Elected	SNP	1,596	21.7%
Andy Forrest Elected	Labour	1,209	16.4%
Katie Mackie	Conservative	1,082	14.7%
Ruaridh Bennett Elected	Labour	1,074	14.6%
Shona McIntosh Elected	Scottish Green	991	13.5%
Iain Whyte	SNP	929	12.6%
Susan Butts	Lib Dem	312	4.2%
Michelle Graham	Alba	84	1.1%
Stephen Carter	Scottish Family Party	79	1.1%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

North Berwick Coastal

Carol McFarlane LabourJeremy Findlay ConservativeLiz Allan SNP

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Conservative39.0%

Labour21.1%

SNP19.9%

Scottish Green13.2%

Lib Dem6.2%

Scottish Family Party0.4%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
Carol McFarlane Elected	Labour	1,447	21.1%
Jeremy Findlay Elected	Conservative	1,389	20.3%
Liz Allan Elected	SNP	1,360	19.9%
Judy Lockhart-Hunter	Conservative	1,280	18.7%
Jacq Cottrell	Scottish Green	901	13.2%
Stuart Smith	Lib Dem	425	6.2%
Alison Carter	Scottish Family Party	29	0.4%
George Henry Cowen	UKIP	18	0.3%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

Preston, Seton and Gosford

Brooke Ritchie LabourColin Yorkston LabourLachlan Bruce ConservativeNeil Gilbert SNP

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)

Labour39.7%

SNP29.8%

Conservative20.5%

Scottish Green5.8%

Lib Dem3.3%

Alba1.0%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
Colin Yorkston Elected	Labour	1,569	24.4%
Lachlan Bruce Elected	Conservative	1,314	20.5%
Neil Gilbert Elected	SNP	1,156	18.0%
Brooke Ritchie Elected	Labour	978	15.2%
Janis Wilson	SNP	756	11.8%
Tim Porteus	Scottish Green	371	5.8%
Ben Morse	Lib Dem	211	3.3%
Paul Brown	Alba	66	1.0%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry

Colin McGinn LabourFiona Dugdale LabourKenny McLeod IndependentLee-Anne Menzies SNP

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)

Labour45.6%

SNP33.0%

Conservative13.4%

Scottish Green4.1%

Lib Dem2.1%

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition1.0%

Candidate	Party	First prefs	Share
Fiona Dugdale Elected	Labour	1,437	24.0%
Kenny McLeod Elected	SNP	1,307	21.8%
Colin Peter McGinn Elected	Labour	1,290	21.6%
Gordon Mackett	Conservative	804	13.4%
Lee-Anne Menzies Elected	SNP	666	11.1%
Marnie Stirling	Scottish Green	245	4.1%
Elisabeth Wilson	Lib Dem	127	2.1%
Jimmy Haddow	Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	57	1.0%
Hazel Hamilton	Alba	51	0.9%

Party shares are of first-preference votes.

Councillors

Changed party since the election

1 councillor now sit for a different party from the one they were elected for.

Ward	Councillor	Elected as	Now
Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry	Kenny McLeod	SNP 2022	Independent

Parliament

Parliamentary constituencies

Constituency	Share of council	2024 winner	Projected now
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh		Labour	SNP 34%
Lothian East		Labour	Labour 37%

Scottish councils: seats are listed without shares. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.

People

Who lives in East Lothian

210,639 residents in 94,640 households

Voted Leave in 2016

35% 17 below GB

Degree or higher

50% 16 above GB

No qualifications

13% 5 below GB

Own their home

60% 1 below GB

Rent from a council or housing association

21% 4 above GB

Rent privately

17% 3 below GB

Aged 15 to 34

35% 4 above GB

Aged 65 and over

20% 2 below GB

GB figure. 2021 Census (Scotland: 2022): age as a share of residents aged 15 and over, qualifications of residents aged 16 and over, housing as a share of households. Leave: 2016 EU referendum, Electoral Commission results by counting area.

Similar

Councils most like this one

Aberdeen CitySNP / Liberal Democrats Coalition WarwickGreen / Labour Coalition (Minority)StirlingSNP (Minority)Bath and North East SomersetLiberal Democrats (Majority)GuildfordLiberal Democrats (Majority)

Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.

Sources

Sources and method

Seat totals and control: PollCheck council control tracker. Councillors: Open Council Data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Election results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), with some vote counts from DCLEAPIL, Leman (2025) (CC BY-SA 4.0), and corrections checked against councils' official declarations. Ward boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Census: Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland.

Councillor lists and DCLEAPIL-derived vote counts on this page are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scottish councils use STV: party shares are of first-preference votes. The lead is the gap between the top two parties' shares.