 | 'Many who oppose fairer voting systems agree more or less by the saying that if it isn't broke don't fix it. Well, as far as I am concerned it is broke.' Canon Kenyon Wright, 22 nd January 2001. |  |
| 'Many who oppose fairer voting systems agree more or less by the saying that if it isn't broke don't fix it. Well, as far as I am concerned it is broke.' Canon Kenyon Wright, 22 nd January 2001. | |
There was a by-election for the Dalkeith/Woodburn ward of Midlothian Council on the 27 th September 2001 following the election of Labour Cllr David Hamilton as MP for Midlothian in succession to Eric Clarke on the 7 th June 2001.
Following the death of Cllr Russell in January 2005, the ward was won by the Lib Dems in March 2005.
Dalkeith/Woodburn is in the Midlothian Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's David Hamilton MP) and in the Midlothian Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Rhona Brankin MSP).
| 27 th September 2001 By-election following the election of Cllr David Hamilton as MP for Midlothian. Turnout 27.9 % (- 33.6 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Russell |  |
Labour | 441 | 44.9 % | - 22.3 % |
| Maeve Duignan |  |
Liberal Democrat | 283 | 28.8 % | + 22.3 % |
 |
Scottish National Party | 211 | 21.5 % | - 4.7 % | |
 |
Scotish Socialist Party | 47 | 4.8 % | (+ 4.8 %) | |
| Labour hold | |
Labour majority | 158 | 16.1 % | - 24.9 % |
| 6 th May 1999 Turnout 61.5 % (+ 19.9 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr David Hamilton | |
Labour | 1,471 | 67.2 % | - 6.6 % |
| David Morton | |
Scottish National Party | 574 | 26.2 % | + 0.0 % |
| Heather Moffat | |
Liberal Democrat | 143 | 6.5 % | (+ 6.5 %) |
| Labour hold | |
Labour majority | 897 | 41.0 % | - 6.7 % |
| 6 th April 1995 Turnout 41.6 % | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Hamilton | |
Labour | 1,245 | 73.8 % | |
| Joseph Middleton | |
Scottish National Party | 441 | 26.2 % | |
| Labour win | |
Labour majority | 805 | 47.7 % | |
There will be by-election in the Dalkeith/Woodburn ward of MidlothianCouncil following the election of Cllr David Hamilton as MP for Midlothian.
Midlothian is one of those councils which give local government a bad name. This is not because of the behavious of its councillors or officials but because it is a modern example of a Rotten Burgh. In 1999, Labour won no less than 17 of the 18 seats on the council with just 45.8 % of the vote. With such perversions of democracy favouring Labour it is unsurprising that the majority of thier councillors are unwilling to move to any system of fair elections for local councils.
Under the d'Hondt system of PR, Midlothian, rather than being an impregnable Labour citadel, would be a hung council with Labour having eight councillors, the SNP six, the Lib Dems three and the Tories one.
In the 1988 District Council elections, Labour won no less than 14 of the 15 seats on Midlothian District Council. In 1992 Labour with 46.2 % of the vote took 12 wards, the SNP with 25.6 % won one ward and the Tories with 19.7 % won two wards. Labour lost two wards - Glencouse/Ladywood to the Tories and Bonnyrigg South to the SNP. Labour's D.R. Smith held Woodburn with 1,302 votes (80.7 %) giving him a masive majority of 1,060 (65.7 %) which is more than many MPs obtain. In second place was the SNP's S.J. Harvie with 242 votes 15.0 %) ahead of Tory A.T. Lawson with 70 votes (4.3 %).
In the 1995 Unitary Council elections Labour took 13 of the 15 wards with 57.4 % of the vote while the SNP took two wards (holding Bonnyrigg South and winning Gorebridge) with 34.5 % of the vote. David Hamilton won the new Woodburn ward for Labour with 1,246 votes (73.9 %) giving him a 805 majority 47.7 %) over the SNP's Joseph Middleton with 441 votes (26.1 %)
The number of wards in Midlothian was increased by three to 18 for the 1999 elections. The electoral distortions continued, however, with Labour winning 17 ward with 45.8 % of the vote, the SNP no wards with 30.7 %, the Lib Dems one with 15.6 % and the Tories none with 7.6 %. The SNP were just 9 votes behind Labour in Penicuik North, 32 votes behind in Gorebridge South and 39 votes behind in Bilston/Roslin.
Dalkeith/Woodburn has the largest Labour majority on Midlothian Council and it would require a swing of 20.5 % for the SNP to take this ward.
Pending the by-election in Dalkeith/Woodburn the political composition of Midlothian Council is 16 Labour and one Liberal Democrat.
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