Cannabaceae

2022 Moray Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →

All 26 seats to Moray Council
14 seats needed for a majority
Registered66,419
Turnout45.0%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Tim Eagle (not standing for re-election) Graham Leadbitter & Shona Morrison John Divers
Party Conservative SNP Labour
Leader's seat Did not contest Elgin South & Fochabers Lhanbryde Elgin South
Last election 8 seats, 36.1% 9 seats, 31.6% 1 seats, 4.3%
Seats before 9 7 1
Seats won 11 8 3
Seat change Increase3 Decrease 1 Increase2
Popular vote 10,698 10,613 3,641
Percentage 36.2% 36.0% 12.3%
Swing Increase 0.1% Increase 4.4% Increase 8.0%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Various Christopher Thomas Price Lisa Mead & Fabio Villani
Party Independent Liberal Democrats Scottish Green
Leader's seat Various Buckie Did not contest
Last election 8 seats, 24.1% 0 seats, 1.2% 0 seats, 2.6%
Seats before 8[a] 0 0
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change Decrease6 Increase1 Increase1
Popular vote 2,327 1,121 1,001
Percentage 7.9% 3.8% 3.4%
Swing Decrease 16.2% Increase 2.6% Increase 0.8%

Council Leader before election

Graham Leadbitter[1]
SNP

Council Leader after election

Neil McLennan & Kathleen Robertson
Conservative

The 2022 election to Moray Council took place on 5 May 2022, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the eight wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 26 Councillors elected. Each ward elects either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

On 18 May 2022, it was announced that the council would be run by a minority Conservative group, alongside two Independents.[2]

Background

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Previous election

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At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats on the council, forming the largest block, but were 5 seats short of a majority. The Scottish Conservatives won the next largest amount of seats, and increased their vote share by 18.6%, gaining 5 seats. Two Independent councillors lost their seats, and so did 2 Scottish Labour councillors. Following the result a Conservative-Independent administration was formed, with an Independent councillor being appointed council leader. However, in May 2018, the Conservative-Independent administration collapsed. One month later, the SNP group formed a minority administration, following negotiations with other groups.

2017 Moray Council election result
Party Seats Vote share
SNP 9 31.6%
Conservative 8 36.1%
Independent 8 24.1%
Labour 1 4.3%

Source:[3]

Composition

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One by-election was held during the 2017-22 term, which resulted in a Conservative gain from the SNP.[4]

Composition of Moray Council
Party 2017 election Dissolution
SNP 9 8
Conservative 8 9
Independent 8 8
Labour 1 1

Summary of results

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2022 Moray Council election
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 11 3 0 +3 42.3 36.2 10,698 Increase 0.1
  SNP 8 0 1 -1 30.8 36.0 10,613 Increase 4.4
  Labour 3 2 0 +2 11.5 12.3 3,641 Increase 8.0
  Independent 2 0 6 -6 7.7 7.9 2,327 Decrease 16.2
  Liberal Democrats 1 1 0 +1 3.9 3.8 1,121 Increase 2.6
  Scottish Green 1 1 0 +1 3.9 3.4 1,001 Increase 0.8
  Scottish Family 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.3 99 New
  Sovereignty 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.1 23 New

Source:[5]

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections in 2017. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward summary

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Results of the 2022 Moray Council election
by ward
Ward %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
SNP Lab Conservative Green Lib Dem Others
Speyside Glenlivet 36.77 1 33.83 1 8.57 0 20.83 1 3
Keith and Cullen 43.50 1 43.68 2 9.94 0 2.88 0 3
Buckie 1 1 1 3
Fochabers Lhanbryde 42.99 1 10.11 1 39.79 1 3
Heldon and Laich 29.48 1 7.68 0 39.71 2 4.62 0 18.52 1 3
Elgin City North 32.60 1 28.49 1 25.88 1 4.49 0 3.92 0 4.62 0 3
Elgin City South 35.55 1 28.11 1 26.83 1 3.05 0 6.45 0 4
Forres 34.29 1 10.62 0 40.91 2 9.1 1 5.10 0 4
Total 26

Ward results

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The incumbent councillors for each ward as of March 2022 are listed below.[6] Any changes from the councillors elected in the 2017 Moray Council election are also noted. Candidates for the election were confirmed on 30 March 2022.[7]

Speyside Glenlivet

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Incumbent councillors:

Speyside Glenlivet - 3 seats[8]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
SNP Juli Harris 36.77% 1,227
Conservative David Gordon 33.83% 1,129
Independent Derek Ross (incumbent) 20.14% 672 750.3 897.7
Scottish Green Elidh Myrvang Brown 8.57% 286 491.7 519.6
Sovereignty David Philip McHutchon 0.69% 23 30.7 50.5
Electorate: 7,382   Valid: 3,374   Spoilt: 37   Quota: 835   Turnout: 45.7%  

Keith and Cullen

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Incumbent councillors:

Keith and Cullen - 3 seats<
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
SNP Theresa Coull (incumbent) 43.5% 1,493        
Conservative Donald Gatt (incumbent) 24.7% 849 884.25      
Conservative Tracy Colyer 18.9% 650 673.8 693.6 732.61 955.35
Liberal Democrats Leslie Tarr 9.9% 341 589.4 591.8 674.21  
Scottish Family William Barclay 2.9% 99 178.0 178.4    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,432   Spoilt: 37   Quota: 859   Turnout: 45.7%  

Buckie

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Incumbent councillors:

Candidates (uncontested):

Candidate Party
Neil McLennan Conservative
Christopher Thomas Price Liberal Democrat
Sonya Warren (incumbent) SNP

Fochabers Lhanbryde

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Incumbent councillors:

Fochabers Lhanbryde - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Conservative Marc Macrae (incumbent) 39.7% 1,590      
SNP Shona Morrison (incumbent) 23.5% 940 959.2 1005.3  
SNP David Bremner (incumbent) 19.4% 778 791.7 811.8 816.3
Labour Ben Williams 10.1% 404 534.6 830.5 830.8 1,178.2
Liberal Democrats Donald Cameron 7.0% 284 496.2    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,996   Spoilt: 68   Quota: 1,000   Turnout: 4,064  

Heldon and Laich

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Incumbent councillors:

Heldon and Laich - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SNP Neil Cameron 29.5% 1,455          
Conservative James Allan (incumbent) 27.0% 1,331          
Independent John Cowe (incumbent) 18.5% 914 1,045.28        
Conservative Bridget Mustard 12.7% 629 639.27 885.17 898.46 946.96 1,150.32
Labour Andrew O'Neill 7.7% 404 489.1 511.77 526.23 725.25  
Liberal Democrats Calum Cameron 4.6% 228 307.28 326.35 337.06    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,936   Spoilt: 60   Quota: 988   Turnout: 4,996  

Elgin City North

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Incumbent councillors:

Elgin City North - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
SNP Jérémie Fernandes 32.6% 1,199
Labour Sandy Keith 28.5% 1,048
Conservative Amber Dunbar 25.9% 952
Independent Graham Jarvis 4.6% 170
Scottish Green Rebecca Kail 4.5% 165
Liberal Democrats Neil Alexander 3.9% 144
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,678   Spoilt: 32   Quota: 920   Turnout: 3,710  

Elgin City South

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Incumbent councillors:

Elgin City South - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
SNP Graham Leadbitter (incumbent) 35.5% 1,444
Labour John Divers (incumbent) 28.1% 1,142
Conservative Peter Bloomfield 26.8% 1,090
Independent Michaela French 4.0% 161
Liberal Democrats Bernard Salmon 3.1% 124
Independent Paul Briggs 2.5% 101
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,062   Spoilt: 51   Quota: 1,016   Turnout: 4,113  

Forres

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Incumbent councillors:

Forres - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SNP Scott Lawrence 34.3% 2,077          
Conservative Kathleen Robertson 25.0% 1,516          
Conservative Paul McBain 15.9% 962 991.15 1,239.8      
Labour James Hynam 10.6% 643 830 844.63 851.77 1,001.43  
Scottish Green Draeyk Van der Horn 9.1% 550 927.73 932.54 933.97 1,047.49 1,513.51
Independent Shaun Moat 5.1% 309 403.12 416.76 423.85    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 6,128   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 1,212   Turnout: 6,057  

Aftermath

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Both the SNP group and the Conservative group fell short of the required 14 seats for a majority. As such negotiations took place after the election to see who would form the next administration. Council leader before the election, Cllr. Graham Leadbitter proposed the continuation of the previous SNP minority administration but the council instead voted 12 to 8 to approve a minority Conservative administration, co-led by Cllr. Neil McLennan and Cllr. Kathleen Robertson.[2]

Defections

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Cllr. Neil McLennan left the Conservative grouping on the council after being removed as joint group leader in July 2022.[5] Another formerly Conservative councillor left the Conservative group in August 2022, and now sits as a "non-aligned Conservative."

Buckie by-election

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In August 2022, the sole Liberal Democrat, Cllr. Christopher Price resigned after only 109 days in the job.[9] A by-election was held on 3 November 2022 and was won by SNP candidate John Stuart.[10]

3 November 2022

Buckie - 1 seat
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
SNP John Stuart 48.9% 1,172 1,181 1,192 1,269
Conservative Tim Eagle 36.7% 879 884 904 989
Labour Keighley Goldie 10.0% 239 247 276  
Liberal Democrats Les Tarr 2.8% 67 78    
Independent Neil Houlden 1.6% 38      
Electorate: 8,139   Valid: 2,395   Spoilt: 13   Quota: 1,199   Turnout: 2,408 (29.6%)  

Notes

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  1. ^ 4 Councillors Open Group, 2 Moray Alliance Group, and 2 Independent

References

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  1. ^ "Councillors". Moray Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b Lawson, Hazel (18 May 2022). "Councillors vote for Conservative minority group to run Moray Council". STV News. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Moray Council Election Results 2017". Moray Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Keith and Cullen by-election result" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  5. ^ a b Faulds, Allan. "Moray Council 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Councillors". Moray Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Information for voters". Moray Council. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Moray Council Election Results 2022". Moray Council. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  9. ^ Beresford, Alan (2 May 2023). "Council candidates urged to think carefully before standing as Buckie by-election bill tops £27k". Grampian Online. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Local Government By-Election 2022". Moray Council. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

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