See main article: 2017 Scottish local elections.
| Election Name: | 2017 East Dunbartonshire Council election |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2012 East Dunbartonshire Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2012 |
| Next Election: | 2022 East Dunbartonshire Council election |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
| Seats For Election: | All 22 seats to East Dunbartonshire Council |
| Majority Seats: | 12 |
| 3Blank: | Swing (pp)--> |
| Party1: | Scottish National Party |
| Leaders Seat1: | Bearsden North (lost re-election) |
| Seats Before1: | 8 |
| Seats Needed1: | 5 |
| Seats1: | 7 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Leader2: | Andrew Polson |
| Party2: | Scottish Conservative Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Bearsden South |
| Seats Before2: | 2 |
| Seats Needed2: | 6 |
| Seats2: | 6 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Leader3: | Vaughan Moody |
| Party3: | Scottish Liberal Democrats |
| Leaders Seat3: | Bearsden South |
| Seats Before3: | 3 |
| Seats Needed3: | 6 |
| Seats3: | 6 |
| Seat Change3: | 3 |
| Leader4: | Rhondda Geekie |
| Party4: | Scottish Labour Party |
| Leaders Seat4: | Lenzie & Kirkintilloch South (lost re-election) |
| Seats Before4: | 8 |
| Seats Needed4: | 10 |
| Seats4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 6 |
| Leader5: | Duncan Cumming |
| Party5: | Independent (politician) |
| Leaders Seat5: | Bearsden North |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats Needed5: | 11 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 0 |
| Council Leader | |
| Before Election: | Rhondda Geekie |
| Before Party: | Scottish Labour Party |
| Posttitle: | Council Leader after election |
| After Election: | Gordan Low |
| After Party: | Scottish National Party |
2017 Elections to East Dunbartonshire Council were held on Thursday 4 May, the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used seven wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, a reduction of one from 2012, with 22 Councillors being elected, 2 fewer overall. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.
The election saw the Scottish National Party elected as the largest group with 7 seats, replacing Labour, which lost all but 2 seats to form the fourth largest group. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party gained 4 seats to achieve their highest ever number of councillors, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats gained 3 seats. The Independent councillor Duncan Cumming retained his seat.
Labour councillor Rhondda Geekie, leader of the council since 2007, lost her seat, as did the SNP Group Leader, Ian Mackay.
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.
Following the election, the Conservative and LibDem groups, who together formed a majority on the council, combined to secure the civic offices and various external appointments, the position of Provost being filled by Conservative Councillor Alan Brown and Depute Provost by LibDem Councillor Gary Pews. However, with the 2017 general election just weeks away, the two groups abstained on each other's nominations for the political posts, allowing the SNP to form a minority administration with Cllr Gordan Low as Leader and Cllr Gillian Renwick as Depute.
Thereafter, the Conservative and LibDem groups continued to vote together, and matters came to a head when a revised redundancy policy was pushed through against the opposition of the SNP administration. After a motion by the council leader calling for the policy to be withdrawn was rejected by Conservative and LibDem councillors, the administration stood down on 21 December 2017.
For the next few months the council functioned without an official administration, and then on 20 March 2018 Conservative Leader Councillor Andrew Polson and Lib Dem Leader Vaughan Moody were elected as Co-Leaders of the new Joint Administration, a first in East Dunbartonshire. Shortly thereafter the new redundancy policy was suspended in the face of potential industrial action.