Research and data

Electoral Wards

Electoral Wards represent the areas serviced by councillors at local goverment level. There are 354 electoral wards, also known as multi-member wards, covering the whole of Scotland. There are 11 multi-member electoral wards in Scottish Borders. Each one has three or four Councillors, depending on the population of the ward.

Find out which ward you are in on our website.

Electoral Wards in Scottish Borders also fit exactly into the five Area Partnerships, or localities.

Topics available at Electoral Ward level

There is a range of small-area demographic information that is available at ward level. 

Any topic in the 2011 Census is available at Electoral Ward level.

More up-to-date information is available on the following topics:

• population and households
• education and training
• housing
• Health, wellbeing and social care for children, adults and older people
• community and crime
• economic and business information
• inequalities and deprivation
• environment

Who can access this information?

Much of this information is available from Official Statistics sources, such as the 2011 Census and the Scottish Statistics Open Data Platform. Demographic information about electoral wards is free for anyone to access but some knowledge of spreadsheets and mapping tools is useful to get the best out of it. 

Elected Members, in particular, need to know about the demographic and the socio-economic health of the area they serve. If you are an Elected Member in the Scottish Borders, contact our Corporate Policy and Information Team to help you access and compile information about your electoral ward. This service is also open to anyone who works in public office, or a voluntary, educational or community capacity in the region. 

Similar information for other types of sub-regional area is also available.

A set of Ward Overviews were created for the May 2022 elections. These are an example of the Area Profiling that can be produced at ward level. If you would like an updated profile for your area, contact our Research and Information Team.

Polling Districts

A polling district is a subdivision of an electoral division, such as a ward or a constituency, which is used to administrate the voting registers and the location of polling places in a parliamentary or local election. 

Electoral geographies and sub-geographies are subject to review from time to time, to ensure that polling places and voting procedures are accessible to all of the registered electorate. The current ward boundaries and polling districts were established in 2017. 

Demographic statistics, such as population and household counts from the 2011 Census, are available at polling district level in Scottish Borders. If you would like to know more about the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Scottish Borders polling districts, contact us using the information below. 

If you would like to know more about the way elections and voting works in the Scottish Borders, visit our Elections and Voting information hub.