The 1974 Western Isles Area Council election, the first election to the Western Isles Islands Council, was held on 7 May 1974 as part of the wider 1974 Scottish regional elections. All candidates stood as Independents, and 16 candidates were elected unopposed.
Several members of political parties ran as independent candidates. This included Roderick MacLeod in Shawbost, who had contested the Western Isles constituency for the Conservatives in 1970, and Mary McCormack, election agent for Labour candidate Andrew Wilson in February 1974, both of whom were unsuccessful.
After the election, Reverend Donald Macaulay and Stornoway Provost Sandy Matheson were tied in a 15-15 vote among councillors to become the council's first convener. Macaulay was elected upon the drawing of a lot.