Shetland Islands
Scottish council · Scotland · 23 seats in 7 wards · All seats elected every five years · Next election 6 May 2027
Independents and others hold 21 of 23 seats; no single party has a majority. The council has 23 councillors in 7 wards. Seats by party: Other 21, SNP 1, Green 1. The next election is on 6 May 2027.
Seats by party
Who holds each ward
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.
Councillors and last results
Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.
| Ward and councillors | Last election |
|---|---|
| Lerwick North and Bressay Stephen Leask, Gary Robinson, Arwed Wenger | 5 May 2022 Independent 33.4% lead 1.0 pts |
| Lerwick South John Fraser, Cecil Smith, Dennis Leask, Neil Pearson | 5 May 2022 Independent 22.5% lead 3.0 pts |
| North Isles Duncan Anderson, Ryan Thomson, Robert Thomson | 5 May 2022 Uncontested |
| Shetland Central Ian Scott, Moraig Lyall, Davie Sandison, Catherine Hughson | 5 May 2022 Independent 29.3% lead 6.5 pts |
| Shetland North Andrea Manson, Andrew Hall, Emma Macdonald | 5 May 2022 Uncontested |
| Shetland South Robbie McGregor, Alex Armitage, Bryan Peterson, Allison Duncan | 5 May 2022 Independent 43.7% lead 16.6 pts |
| Shetland West Liz Peterson, Mark Robinson | 5 May 2022 Independent 39.3% lead 21.5 pts |
Lerwick North and Bressay
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Arthur Leask Elected | Independent | 310 | 33.4% |
| Gary Robinson Elected | Independent | 301 | 32.4% |
| Arwed Wenger Elected | Independent | 136 | 14.7% |
| Marie Williamson | Independent | 115 | 12.4% |
| Stephen Ferguson | Independent | 66 | 7.1% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Lerwick South
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Leask Elected | Independent | 302 | 22.5% |
| John Finlay Sinclair Fraser Elected | Independent | 262 | 19.5% |
| Cecil Laing Smith Elected | Independent | 251 | 18.7% |
| Neil Pearson Elected | Independent | 171 | 12.7% |
| Amanda Hawick | Independent | 153 | 11.4% |
| Peter Coleman | Independent | 106 | 7.9% |
| Shayne Charles McLeod | Independent | 99 | 7.4% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
North Isles
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
Uncontested. Elected: Duncan Anderson (Independent), Ryan Thomson (Independent).
Last by-election, 4 August 2022
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert William Thomson Elected | Independent | 680 | 68.6% |
| Sonia Robertson | Independent | 106 | 10.7% |
| Gary Cleaver | Independent | 100 | 10.1% |
| Marie Williamson | Independent | 92 | 9.3% |
| Stewart Douglas | Independent | 13 | 1.3% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Shetland Central
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moraig Lyall Elected | Independent | 414 | 29.3% |
| Davie Sandison Elected | Independent | 322 | 22.8% |
| Catherine Hughson Elected | Independent | 282 | 19.9% |
| Ian Scott Elected | Independent | 271 | 19.2% |
| Martin Trevor Randall | Scottish Green | 99 | 7.0% |
| Brian Nugent | Sovereignty | 26 | 1.8% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Shetland North
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
Uncontested. Elected: Andrea Isabel Manson (Independent), Emma Macdonald (Independent), Tom Morton (Labour).
Last by-election, 23 January 2025
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Hall Elected | Independent | 887 | 90.4% |
| Natasha Cornick | Independent | 94 | 9.6% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Shetland South
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allison George Leslie Duncan Elected | Independent | 805 | 43.7% |
| Bryan Peterson Elected | Independent | 500 | 27.1% |
| Alex Armitage Elected | Scottish Green | 274 | 14.9% |
| Robbie McGregor Elected | SNP | 217 | 11.8% |
| Stewart Douglas | Independent | 46 | 2.5% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Shetland West
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liz Boxwell Elected | Independent | 298 | 39.3% |
| John Robert Leask Elected | Independent | 135 | 17.8% |
| Mark Robinson | Independent | 128 | 16.9% |
| Debra Jane Nicolson | Scottish Green | 69 | 9.1% |
| Zara Pennington | SNP | 59 | 7.8% |
| Andrew Holt | Independent | 43 | 5.7% |
| Ian Tinkler | Independent | 21 | 2.8% |
| Peter James Fraser | Independent | 5 | 0.7% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Last by-election, 17 November 2022
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Robinson Elected | Independent | 375 | 76.4% |
| Debra Jane Nicolson | Scottish Green | 67 | 13.6% |
| Zara Pennington | SNP | 49 | 10.0% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Every council by-election since 2021
1 by-election since July 2021, 1 of them gains.
| Date | Ward | Result | Winner's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 January 2025 | Shetland North | Independent gain from Labour |
Parliamentary constituencies
| Constituency | Share of council | 2024 winner | Projected now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orkney and Shetland | Lib Dem | Lib Dem 39% |
Scottish councils: seats are listed without shares. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.
Who lives in Shetland Islands
44,939 residents in 21,200 households
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.
Councils most like this one
Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.
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.