1982 Shetland Islands Area Council election

1982 Shetland Islands Council election

← 1978 May 4, 1982 (1982-05-04) 1986 →
All 25 seats to Shetland Islands Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader A.I. Tulloch Party Independent Labour Leader's seat Aithsting and Sandsting Last election 22 3 Seats won 23 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 2,649 222 Percentage 86.4% 7.2% Swing 5.3 11.7
Council Convener before election A.I. Tulloch Independent Council Convener after election A.I. Tulloch Independent

An election to Shetland Islands Council was held on 6 May 1982 as part of the 1982 Scottish regional elections and yielded a swing to candidates supportive of Home Rule for the islands. Whilst no candidates appeared on the ballot as members of the Shetland Movement (all Shetland candidates were independents), the Shetland Movement did publish a list of candidates supportive of Shetland Home Rule. Ultimately of the 25 members of the Shetland council, 14 were supporters of the movement.^[1]

Supporters of Island Autonomy similarly contested the elections in neighboring Orkney.^[2]

The councils for the Shetland Islands, Orkney, and the Western Isles operated as combined authorities, meaning that instead of having both regional and district governance, the Islands had a single level combined of governance. These councils were elected at the same time as Scottish regional councils.

Aggregate results[]

Shetland Islands Council election, 1982

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	23	1	0	1	92.0	86.4%	2,649	5.3
	Labour	2	0	1	1	8.0	7.2%	222	11.6
	Ratepayers	0	0	0	-	0	6.3%	194	6.3

Ward results[]

1st, Lerwick Sound

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Graham	Unopposed

2nd, Lerwick–Clickimin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Thomas M. Y. Manson	121	35.4%
	Independent	Cecil B. Eunson	112	32.7%
	Independent	Ian Byrne	109	31.9%
Majority			9	2.7%
Turnout
	Independent hold

3rd, Lerwick–North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Leonard G. Groat	221	52.0%
	Ratepayers	Robert Tulloch (Incumbent)	194	48.0%
Majority			17	4.0%
Turnout
	Independent gain from Ratepayers

4th, Lerwick Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Bill Smith	Unopposed

5th, Lerwick Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Edward Thomason	Unopposed

6th, Lerwick Twageos

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Sandy Clunes	Unopposed

7th, Lerwick Breiwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Leslie Eunson	Unopposed

8th, Unst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alan B. Fraser	157	41.1%
	Independent	Karl M. Gray	148	38.7%
	Independent	William Playfair	77	20.2%
Majority			9	2.4%
Turnout
	Independent hold

9th, Yell North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Johnston	Unopposed

10th, Yell South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Stewart Gray	Unopposed

11th, Northmavine

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christopher D. Dowle	222	55.8%
	Independent	Gilbert J. Mowat	127	31.9%
	Independent	William J. Beattie	49	12.3%
Majority			95	23.9%
Turnout
	Labour gain from Independent

12th, Delting North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Fraser Paterson	Unopposed

13th, Delting South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Albert Hunter	Unopposed

14th, Nesting and Lunnasting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Benji Hunter	Unopposed

15th, Bressay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Irvine	Unopposed

16th, Scalloway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Anderson	Unopposed

17th, Whiteness, Weisdale and Tingwall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Cecil R. H. Eunson	258	55.7%
	Independent	Florence B. Grains	205	44.3%
Majority			53	11.4%
Turnout

18th, Whalsay and Skerries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Henry Stewart	Unopposed

19th, Sandsting and Aithsting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alexander Tulloch	247	57.6%
	Independent	William Tait	182	42.4%
Majority			65	15.2%
Turnout

20th, Sandness and Walls

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Gordon Walterson	Unopposed

21st, Cunningsburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Joan Macleod	Unopposed

22nd, Burra and Trondra

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William A. Cumming	316	75.2%
	Independent	Susan G. Morrow-Irvine	104	24.8%
Majority			212	50.4%
Turnout

23rd, Sandwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Malcolm S. Bray	Unopposed

24th, Dunrossness North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Tait	Unopposed

25th, Dunrossness South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Raymond R. Bentley	142	65.7%
	Independent	John F. D. MacKenzie	74	34.3%
Majority			68	31.4%
Turnout

^[3][4]

By-elections since 1982[]

1982 Delting North by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Roberta Clubb	Unopposed
	Labour gain from Independent

1983 Delting North by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Andrea Manson	337	76.8%
	Labour	Paul Thorn	102	23.2%
Majority			235	53.6%
Turnout
	Independent gain from Labour

References[]