As we await the results of the local election in Scotland, look back at some of the key battlegrounds.
Glasgow
THE 2017 council election in Glasgow was a landmark victory for the SNP and the ultimate humiliation Labour which had held power in the city for almost 40 years.
Five years on and Scotland has changed, hit by a global pandemic, a war in Europe, Brexit and a cost of living crisis.
A shift away from constitutional politics could explain a boost for Labour predicted in recent polls.
But will the appeal to win back both disillusioned Tory and SNP voters be enough to put Labour in the running to again win in Glasgow?
Malcolm Cunning, the Labour group leader on Glasgow city council, told The Herald on Sunday his party does have a realistic chance of victory in two and a half weeks.
Read the full analysis by political correspondent Kathleen Nutt.
Aberdeen
In 2017, it was the SNP who were the biggest party, winning 19 councillors. However, they fell short of the numbers to form a majority administration. Discussions with the four LibDems came to nothing.
The Tories were the big winners in terms of gains, surging from three councillors to
11. Labour’s nine councillors was a poor result given they had 18 going into the election.
Yet despite being the smaller party, the Tories agreed to let Labour have not just the provost, but also the Leader of the council.
Given that Anas Sarwar has explicitly ruled out coalitions with any party, is that unionist coalition at an end, or could history repeat itself?
Edinburgh
THE SNP have drawn up proposals to transform Edinburgh into a “modern European capital” – but a handful of parties are vying to realistically hold the balance of power after the election.
The last council administration formed after the 2017 council election saw the SNP, then the biggest party, form a coalition with Labour.
With a handful of SNP councillors walking out on the party in protest over the leadership, the administration was forced to carry on as a minority coalition – often helped by the Scottish Greens on specific policy issues.
But Labour leader Anas Sarwar has insisted that his party will no longer be able to form official arrangements with other parties – and with Labour only standing 20 candidates in the city, the party looks unlikely to continue being part of the ruling administration, at least formally.
Read the analysis from our political correspondent David Bol.
North Lanarkshire
EVEN after proportional voting was introduced for council elections in 2007, North Lanarkshire continued to prove a Labour stronghold.
Voters here twice elected a Labour majority after the change, but that relationship with the People’s Party broke down with the independence referendum.
Despite Labour leading the No campaign, residents voted Yes, albeit by 51 to 49 per cent.
That shift was mirrored in the council election that followed in 2017, when the SNP emerged as the largest party, but only just, with 33 of the 77 councillors to Labour’s 32.
Unionism will loom large over both the contest and the likely horse-trading after the result.
Read the full analysis from our Scottish political editor Tom Gordon.
South Lanarkshire
By Tom Gordon
ONE of the most diverse of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, South Lanarkshire stretches from Glasgow and East Renfrewshire to Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders.
After its creation in 1995, South Lanarkshire was a Labour fiefdom until 2017, when the SNP won control and governed as a minority.
Labour have been trying to find their feet in opposition since, with the Tories in a strong third place.
Despite a reported softening of their vote, the likelihood is that the SNP will stay the largest party.
However, politics at the council’s Hamilton HQ can be volatile. There were no independents elected in 2017, but now, thanks to fall-outs, there are eight, five of whom have clubbed together to form an Independent Group.
Deputy SNP leader Maureen Chalmers said being a minority had obliged her party to work across party lines and with outside bodies, and voters appreciated it.
Renfrewshire
By Andrew Quinn
Having taken back control of Renfrewshire Council from Labour in 2017, the SNP are now looking for majority of their own.
They came close at the last poll, securing 19 seats out of 43, and the party’s council leader Iain Nicolson is “pretty confident” about their chances this time around.
Indeed, the SNP are the only party fielding enough candidates (22) to secure a majority.
Labour, headed by long-standing councillor Eddie Devine, are fielding 20 hopefuls this year.
The party are reeling from the incredible gains made by the Conservatives in 2017, who jumped from one seat to eight. Though the Tory gains were a pattern felt across Scotland, what raised eyebrows was the election of the first Tory ever to represent the Ferguslie Park area.
This election will also mark a changing of the guard, with 13 councillors choosing not to stand for re-election.
East Renfrewshire
AFTER being shut out by an SNP-Labour pact in the past three elections, the Conservatives are looking to lead the next administration in East Renfrewshire.
Their chances have been boosted as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar ruled out any “formal coalition” with the SNP or the Tories.
The Conservatives were the biggest party in 2017, winning seven of the 18 seats, but were shut out after five Labour, four SNP councillors and independent Danny Devlin formed a coalition. This was the third election in a row in which the parties and Mr Devlin came together to form an administration, with the 2007 pact including the LibDems.
While no party is fielding enough candidates to win a majority this time round, the Conservatives have eight hopefuls, one more than the SNP.
Labour and the Greens have five candidates each, Alba have four and six independents are standing.
Two of the independents are former Conservatives who left during the last term.
Inverclyde
INVERCLYDE can throw up some “really unexpected results”, Scottish Labour’s Martin McCluskey tells The Herald, when we ask him to try and predict the result of Thursday’s vote. “I wouldn’t even hazard a guess.”
Unexpectedly, in 2017, despite a drubbing across the rest of the country, the party held on here, winning eight councillors and another five years in Greenock’s Municipal Building.
That was despite their share of the vote falling from 50 per cent to 26%.
In fact, the SNP won significantly more votes, 33%, but only took seven seats.
The Conservatives won two, the LibDems one, and independents made up the final four.
Labour has already had a victory of sorts, with the party’s leader in the council elected without a vote being cast.
Interestingly, as noted by the Ballot Box Scotland website, Inverclyde is the only one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities that the Greens have never contested. The LibDems have all but given up here too, standing in just three wards.
Alex Salmond’s Alba, on the other hand, are standing in four. This could be their best chance of a win.
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