1988 Hamilton District Council election

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All 20 seats to Hamilton District Council
11 seats needed for a majorityRegistered80,029Turnout48.8%

	First party	Second party	Third party
	Lab	SSLD	SNP
Party	Labour	SSLD	SNP
Last election	17 seats, 64.9%	2 seats, 16.4%[Note 1]	0 seats, 8.0%
Seats won	15	2	1
Seat change	Decrease 2	Steady	Increase 1
Popular vote	21,235	3,031	7,700
Percentage	54.7%	7.8%	19.9%
Swing	Decrease 10.2	Decrease 8.6	Increase 11.9
	Fourth party	Fifth party
	Con	ILab
Party	Conservative	Independent Labour
Last election	1 seats, 10.7%	N/A
Seats won	1	1
Seat change	Steady	Increase 1
Popular vote	3,861	2,592
Percentage	10.0%	6.6%
Swing	Decrease 0.7	New

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Elections to Hamilton District Council were held on 5 May 1988, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the fifth election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

The election used the 20 wards created by the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1980. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Despite losing two seats and their vote share falling by 10.2%, Labour maintained control of the district council as they won 15 of the 20 seats – taking 54.7% of the popular vote. In March 1988, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party merged and the newly formed Scottish Social and Liberal Democrats (SSLD) matched the result of the SDP–Liberal Alliance at the previous election as they returned two councillors. The remaining seats were won by the Scottish National Party (SNP) – who gained one seat and had come second in the popular vote – and the Conservatives.

1988 Hamilton District Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	15	1	3	Decrease 2	75.0	54.7	21,235	Decrease 10.2
	SSLD	2	1	1	Steady	10.0	7.8	3,031	Decrease 8.6[Note 1]
	SNP	1	1	0	Increase 1	10.0	19.9	7,700	Increase 11.9
	Conservative	1	0	0	Steady	10.0	10.0	3,861	Decrease 0.7
	Independent Labour	1	1	0	Increase 1	10.0	6.6	2,592	New
	Tenants' Association	0	0	0	Steady	0.0	1.1	448	New
Total		20	38,867

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Hillhouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	R. Newberry	1,200	78.5	Decrease 4.2
SNP	J. Randalls	276	18.1	Increase 11.8
Conservative	H. MacKie	50	3.3	Increase 0.3
Majority			924	60.4	Decrease 14.4
Turnout			1,526	43.4	Increase 1.5
Registered electors			3,525
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 4.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Udston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	R. Scott	1,499	74.2	Decrease 3.2
SNP	J. Pollock	512	25.4	Increase 12.5
Majority			987	48.8	Decrease 15.7
Turnout			2,011	49.4	Increase 3.7
Registered electors			4,084
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 3.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Wellhall North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
SSLD	I. Blackstock	720	36.3	Increase 28.4
Labour	S. Dallas	418	21.1	Decrease 22.0
Independent Labour	B. McKinnon	372	18.7	New
SNP	W. Stevenson	277	14.0	Increase 7.3
Conservative	D. Thomas	195	9.8	Decrease 3.0
Majority			302	15.2	N/A
Turnout			1,982	44.5	Increase 3.5
Registered electors			4,464
SSLD gain from Labour		Swing	Increase 25.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	T. Murphy	981	51.7	Increase 0.6
Conservative	W. Irving	527	27.8	Decrease 1.5
SSLD	J. Clarke	378	19.9	Increase 7.0
Majority			454	23.9	Increase 2.1
Turnout			1,886	43.6	Decrease 3.8
Registered electors			4,353
Labour hold		Swing	Increase 0.6

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Burnbank

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	I. McKillop	1,140	57.7	Decrease 29.2
Tenants' Association	E. Kerr	448	22.7	New
SNP	G. Gebbie	302	15.3	New
Conservative	R. Wilkie	83	4.2	Decrease 8.3
Majority			692	35.0	Decrease 39.4
Turnout			1,973	47.3	Increase 7.8
Registered electors			4,176
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 29.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Ferniegair

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Conservative	M. Mitchell	759	41.1	Decrease 1.4
Labour	I. Donnelly	632	34.2	Decrease 0.4
SNP	E. Hamilton	449	24.3	Increase 17.9
Majority			127	6.9	Decrease 1.0
Turnout			1,840	47.4	Decrease 0.5
Registered electors			3,896
Conservative hold		Swing	Decrease 0.5

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Fairhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	N. Cochrane	1,176	62.8	Decrease 21.1
SNP	Y. Dear	595	31.8	New
Conservative	M. Murray	98	5.2	Decrease 10.4
Majority			581	31.0	Decrease 37.3
Turnout			1,863	48.5	Increase 4.2
Registered electors			3,863
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 21.1

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Woodhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	J. Lowe	1,457	73.3	Decrease 10.1
SNP	S. Buchanan	523	26.3	Increase 16.3
Majority			934	47.0	Decrease 26.4
Turnout			1,526	45.0	Increase 0.2
Registered electors			4,424
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 10.1

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Low Waters

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	P. Grenfell	836	41.6	Increase 3.5
Conservative	A. Kegg	592	29.5	Decrease 1.8
SNP	N. Dear	576	28.7	Increase 20.2
Majority			244	12.1	Increase 5.3
Turnout			2,004	49.6	Decrease 0.1
Registered electors			4,051
Labour hold		Swing	Increase 2.6

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Cadzow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
SNP	J. Smith	915	47.8	Increase 30.9
Labour	G. Smith	878	45.8	Decrease 36.8
Conservative	A. Aitchison	122	6.4	New
Majority			37	2.0	N/A
Turnout			1,915	51.4	Increase 4.8
Registered electors			3,728
SNP gain from Labour		Swing	Increase 33.8

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Dalserf

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	M. Ahmed	913	52.1	Decrease 16.2
Independent Labour	J. Millward	365	20.8	New
SNP	R. Wilson	252	14.4	Decrease 1.7
Conservative	A. Aitchison	221	12.6	New
Majority			548	31.3	Decrease 20.9
Turnout			1,751	52.7	Increase 16.4
Registered electors			3,321
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 16.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Larkhall East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	R. Ferguson	973	58.3	Decrease 9.2
SNP	M. Miller	686	41.1	Increase 9.2
Majority			287	17.2	Decrease 18.3
Turnout			1,659	46.6	Increase 5.9
Registered electors			3,582
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 9.2

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Larkhall North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	T. McCabe	1,163	66.2	Decrease 11.5
SNP	R. Forbes	576	32.8	Increase 11.4
Majority			587	33.4	Decrease 22.9
Turnout			1,739	46.2	Increase 8.0
Registered electors			3,800
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 11.4

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Larkhall South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	S. Casserly	1,204	72.6	Decrease 9.5
SNP	M. Miller	453	27.3	Increase 9.7
Majority			751	45.3	Decrease 19.2
Turnout			1,657	50.7	Increase 4.7
Registered electors			3,275
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 9.6

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Stonehouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	R. Gibb	1,305	66.0	Increase 5.8
Conservative	A. Haston	407	20.6	New
SNP	R. Clark	265	13.4	Increase 7.5
Majority			898	45.4	Increase 19.0
Turnout			1,977	50.0	Decrease 5.3
Registered electors			3,953
Labour hold		Swing	Increase 5.8

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Uddingston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
SSLD	T. Maxwell	1,060	49.5	Decrease 7.1
Labour	C. Begley	801	37.4	Increase 8.9
Conservative	G. Prince	277	12.9	Decrease 1.7
Majority			259	12.1	Decrease 16.0
Turnout			2,138	53.9	Increase 1.7
Registered electors			3,974
SSLD hold		Swing	Decrease 7.1

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Bothwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	M. Rooney	1,060	41.2	Increase 3.8
SSLD	M. Radcliffe	873	34.0	Decrease 20.1
Conservative	E. Bath	393	15.3	Increase 7.0
SNP	C. Sutherland	242	9.4	New
Majority			187	7.2	N/A
Turnout			2,568	55.1	Increase 0.8
Registered electors			4,664
Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	Increase 11.9

Source:^{[2] [3]}

High Blantyre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	J. Swinburne	1,199	58.0	Decrease 34.0
Independent Labour	M. Martin	524	25.4	New
SNP	I. Campbell	339	16.4	New
Majority			675	32.6	Decrease 51.7
Turnout			2,062	53.5	Increase 11.1
Registered electors			3,867
Labour hold		Swing	Decrease 34.0

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Blantyre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent Labour	M. Tremble	1,331	57.4	New
Labour	J. Handibode	837	36.1	Decrease 42.1
Conservative	L. McIntosh	137	5.9	Decrease 2.7
Majority			494	21.3	N/A
Turnout			2,305	50.6	Increase 7.4
Registered electors			4,575
Independent Labour gain from Labour		Swing	Increase 49.7

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Stonefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	H. Dunsmuir	1,563	77.0
SNP	T. Muir	462	22.7
Majority			1,101	54.3
Turnout			2,025	45.6
Registered electors			4,454
Labour hold

Source:^{[2] [3]}