2003 Scottish Borders Council election

Main article: 2003 Scottish local elections

2003 Scottish Borders Council election

3 May 2003 (2003-05-03)
All 34 seats to Scottish Borders Council 18 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Independent Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 14 seats, 32.14% 1 seats, 16.9% 14 seats, 27.5% Seats before 14 1 14 Seats won 14 10 9 Seat change 0 9 5 Popular vote 12,216 11,490 10,561 Percentage 30.4% 28.6% 26.3% Swing 0.8% 11.7% 1.8%   Fourth party   Party SNP Last election 4 seats, 18.1% Seats before 4 Seats won 1 Seat change 3 Popular vote 4,625 Percentage 11.5% Swing 6.6%
Council Leader before election John Ross Scott Liberal Democrats Council Leader after election David Parker Independent

Elections for the Scottish Borders Council took place on Thursday 1 May 2003, alongside the wider Scottish local elections.

No party held a majority, with the largest grouping - local Independents - winning 14 of the council's 34 seats.

Aggregate results

Scottish Borders Council election, 2003

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	14			0		30.4	12,216	0.8
	Conservative	10			9		28.6	11,490	11.7
	Liberal Democrats	9			5		26.3	10,561	1.8
	SNP	1			3		11.5	4,625	6.6
	Scottish Socialist	0			0		1.9	768	New
	Labour	0			1		1.4	559	14.0

Ward results

Ward 1: Eyemouth and District South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Cook	779	82.4
	Conservative	Michael Norcott	166	17.6
Majority			613	64.8
Turnout			945	41.8
	Independent gain from Independent

Ward 2: Chirnside and District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	James Fullarton	614	57.9
	SNP	Ms Aileen Orr	446	42.1
Majority			168	15.8
Turnout			1,060	43.8
	Conservative hold

Ward 3: Coldstream and District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Law	603	41.8
	SNP	Donald Moffat	556	38.5
	Conservative	Robert Kennedy	285	19.7
Majority			47	3.3
Turnout			1,444	57.5
	Independent hold

Ward 4: Duns and District South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Margaret McCrave	450	40.0
	Liberal Democrats	Anne de Fernandez	416	37.0
	SNP	Gordon Mathews	258	23.0
Majority			34	3.0
Turnout			1,124	45.9
	Conservative gain from Independent

Ward 5: Duns and District North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Elliot	449	38.1
	Liberal Democrats	Maureen Ferguson	366	31.0
	Conservative	Gavin Calder	93	8.3
Majority			83	7.1
Turnout			1,150	47.3
	Independent hold

Ward 6: Eyemouth and District North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	George Russell	615	55.0
	Conservative	Andrew Morgan	504	45.0
Majority			111	10.0
Turnout			1,119	46.1
	Liberal Democrats hold

Ward 7: Kelso and District North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Lindores	735	60.2
	Conservative	Meriel Smith	486	39.8
Majority			249	20.4
Turnout			1,221	44.3
	Independent hold

Ward 8: Kelso Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Alasdair Hutton	Unopposed	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 9: Kelso and District South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Nicol	796	55.2
	Conservative	Andrew Thomson	646	44.8
Majority			150	10.4
Turnout			442	61.5
	Liberal Democrats hold

Ward 10: Jedburgh and District East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sandy Scott	487	46.3
	SNP	Natasha York	316	30.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Tunnah	248	23.6
Majority			171	16.2
Turnout			1,051	46.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 11: Jedburgh and District West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Wight	738	61.6
	SNP	James Brown	460	38.4
Majority			278	23.2
Turnout			1,198	52.0
	Conservative hold

Ward 12: Hermitage

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Val Robson	424	42.0
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Borthwick	389	38.6
	Conservative	Hubert Rutherford	196	19.4
Majority			35	3.4
Turnout			1,009	47.7
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 13: Burnfoot and Mansfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Richardson	401	42.4
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Pender	375	39.6
	SNP	Harry Stoddart	122	12.9
	Conservative	John Lamont	48	5.1
Majority			26	2.8
Turnout			946	45.0
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 14: Silverbuthall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Mary Beck	526	46.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Scott	502	44.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Irvine	110	9.7
Majority			24	2.1
Turnout			1,138	53.0
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 15: Weensland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Kenneth McCartney	664	46.7
	Liberal Democrats	James Scott	369	25.9
	Conservative	Ms. Alexandra Elliot	299	21.0
	SNP	Richard Cain	90	6.3
Majority			295	20.8
Turnout			1,422	59.1
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 16: Teviot and Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Paterson	728	63.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Smith	325	28.2
	Conservative	Andrew Loyd	98	8.5
Majority			403	35.0
Turnout			1,151	52.3
	Independent gain from SNP

Ward 17: Wilton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Andrew Farquhar	526	47.4
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Angus	320	28.8
	Conservative	George Turnbull	264	23.8
Majority			206	18.6
Turnout			1,110	50.0
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 18: Galawater and Lauderdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Douglas Younger	465	29.4
	Independent	Alexander Aitchison	415	26.2
	Independent	Graeme Donald	374	23.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Runciman	328	20.7
Majority			50	2.8
Turnout			1,572	58.3
	Conservative gain from Independent

Ward 19: Earlston, Gordon and District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Miles Browne	Unopposed	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Ward 20: Melrose and District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Smith	831	58.5
	Conservative	Jonathan Hill	590	41.5
Majority			241	17.0
Turnout			1,421	56.8
	Independent hold

Ward 21: Scott's View

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Carolyn Riddell-Carre	729	57.3
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Wright	543	42.7
Majority			186	14.6
Turnout			1,272	52.8
	Conservative gain from Independent

Ward 22: Alewater and Denholm

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	John Houston	706	51.0
	Conservative	John Greenwell	677	49.0
Majority			29	2.0
Turnout			1,383	56.7
	Liberal Democrats hold

Ward 23: Old Selkirk

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Gordon Edgar	618	40.7
	Independent	John Thomson	544	35.8
	Scottish Socialist	Kerry Gentleman	143	9.4
	SNP	Alexander McKie	127	8.4
	Conservative	Guy Lee	87	5.7
Majority			74	4.9
Turnout			1,519	55.9
	Independent hold

Ward 24: Forest

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Vicky Davidson	669	46.9
	SNP	Christopher Renton	514	36.0
	Conservative	Kevin Newton	243	17.0
Majority			155	10.9
Turnout			1,426	53.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from SNP

Ward 25: Netherdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Fiona Moore	317	28.3
	Independent	Angus MacKay	293	20.1
	Independent	John Robertson	261	23.3
	Scottish Socialist	Graeme McIver	249	22.2
Majority			24	2.2
Turnout			1,120	46.2
	Conservative gain from Independent

Ward 26: Lower Landlee and Tweedbank

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Parker	1,113	94.2
	Conservative	Scott Smith	69	5.8
Majority			1,044	88.4
Turnout			1,182	52.8
	Independent gain from SNP

Ward 27: Upper Langlee and Landhope

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	John Mitchell	585	65.2
	Conservative	Robert Strang	312	34.8
Majority			273	30.4
Turnout			897	41.3
	SNP hold

Ward 28: Kilnknowe and Clovenfords

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Thomas Dumble	462	41.8
	SNP	Graham Fleming	296	26.8
	Conservative	Willie Hall	236	21.4
	Scottish Socialist	Joy McLelland	110	10.0
Majority			166	15.0
Turnout			1,104	46.9
	Independent hold

Ward 29: Mossilee and Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	William Lamb	355	38.3
	SNP	William Herd	271	29.2
	Labour	Carolyne Thomson	160	17.2
	Conservative	Brian Jones	94	10.1
	Scottish Socialist	Lesley McIver	48	5.2
Majority			84	9.1
Turnout			928	43.0
	Liberal Democrats hold

Ward 30: Innerleithen and Walkerburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Purves	862	57.9
	SNP	William Cox	317	21.3
	Conservative	John Ballantine	160	10.7
	Scottish Socialist	Norman Lockhart	150	10.1
Majority			545	36.6
Turnout			1,489	55.3
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent

Ward 31: Peebles and District South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Garvie	813	50.4
	Conservative	Charles Cormack	460	28.5
	Independent	Hector Black	341	21.1
Majority			353	21.9
Turnout			1,614	56.6
	Liberal Democrats hold

Ward 32: Peebles and District East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Catriona Bhatia	829	56.0
	SNP	George Cowan	267	18.0
	Conservative	Hilary Ballantine	178	12.0
	Labour	John Thomson	139	9.4
	Scottish Socialist	Joan Rowley	68	4.6
Majority			562	38.0
Turnout			1,481	54.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour

Ward 33: Peebles and Upper Tweed

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Nancy Norman	971	62.0
	Conservative	Hugh Seymour	335	21.4
	Labour	Julia Reid	260	16.6
Majority			636	40.6
Turnout			1,566	57.5
	Independent hold

Ward 34: West Linton and District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Neil Calvert	722	44.7
	Independent	David Small	634	39.3
	Independent	Robert Bond	259	16.0
Majority			88	5.4
Turnout			1,615	59.1
	Conservative gain from Independent