Elections 2022: Taking a look at voter turnout in Midlothian

Voters across the UK will flock to the polls on Thursday for this year’s round of local council elections.

We've taken a look at what turnout was like across Midlothian when voters last headed to the polls to vote for their chosen ward councillors.

Electoral Commission data shows that at the last UK local authority elections in 2017, 70,237 people in the area were eligible to vote, with 32,733 of them returning valid ballot papers – equating to a valid voter turnout of 46.6 per cent.

Around 9,400 postal votes were included in the count, while 521 votes were rejected, which can occur if a paper is not marked properly or has been spoiled.

Including votes rejected at the count, the ballot box turnout in Midlothian that year was 47.3 per cent, which was higher than the Scotland average of 46.9 per cent.