Go straight to May 2007 local election result

Burntisland was one of the first burghs to experience a form of party politics in Town Council elections. This happened in the early years of the 20th century, when James Lothian Mitchell, the illegitimate son of a domestic servant and an agricultural labourer, came to prominence. He and his 'Mitchellite' supporters dominated political life in the town from 1903 until Mitchell's death in 1908. They achieved much in those five years. Despite strong opposition from less enlightened councillors, they succeeded in getting for Burntisland its fine public library. And by their purchase of the Rossend estate, they planted the seeds from which developed the socialist initiatives of later years.

Many folk in Burntisland hanker for the days of the old Town Council, which ceased to exist when local government in Scotland was 'regionalised' in 1975. Perhaps sadly, there is no prospect of a return to those old days - but there does seem to be some recognition of the desirability of devolving more responsibility to Community Councils.

Burntisland Community Council meets monthly in the old Town Council chamber. With very limited powers and resources, it does its best to stimulate interest in local affairs and influence decision making by Fife Council. The degree of commitment in Burntisland is well above the average: many areas of Fife are unable to muster a Community Council at all, and very few have sufficient nominees at election time for a contest to be necessary. Burntisland has both.

From the reorganisation of local government in 1975 until 2001, the Labour Party took the lion's share of the honours in local government elections in Burntisland. Labour councillors were regularly elected to Fife Regional Council and Kirkcaldy District Council, and from 1995/96 to Fife Council. The exceptions were periods of Scottish National Party and Conservative/Independent representation in the District Council ward which included the eastern part of the town.

In a by-election in the Auchtertool & Burntisland East Ward of Fife Council in September 2001, the Liberal Democrat candidate won a surprise victory. He was unable to consolidate his position, however, and in May 2003 he was replaced by local Independent candidate William Leggatt. Councillor Leggatt died in August 2005. In the subsequent by-election in September 2005, Scottish National Party candidate George Kay won a convincing victory.

In 2007, the Single Transferable Vote system of proportional representation was introduced for all local government elections in Scotland. The number of wards in Fife was reduced from 78 to 23. However, each new ward is now a multi-member ward with either three or four councillors, and the total number of councillors remains at 78. When voting, the voter marks the candidates in order of preference - 1, 2, 3, etc. The counting of the votes is a complex process, and a detailed description can be found on the VoteScotland website.

The result of the election held on 3 May 2007 was as follows:

How to contact your local Councillors

IAIN SOMMERVILLE
E-mail: iars@fife40.freeserve.co.uk