Moray Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Mhoireibh) is the local government authority for Moray, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based in Elgin.
History The County of Moray was one of Scotland's historic counties and had a county council from 1890 until 1975. The county was called Elginshire until 1919 when the name was changed to Moray.
Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced the counties and burghs with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Moray became a district within the Grampian region, with some significant differences between the boundaries of the pre-1975 county and the post-1975 district. Moray District Council served as a lower-tier authority subordinate to Grampian Regional Council.
The regions and districts were abolished in 1996, when the Moray district became a council area, governed by Moray Council, which took on all the local government functions previously performed by the district and regional councils.
Political control The council has been under no overall control since 2007. Following the 2022 election, a Conservative minority administration formed to run the council.
The first election to Moray District Council was held in 1974. It initially operated as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows: (Put "Moray" in search box to see specific results.)
Moray District Council Party in controlYears 1975–1996
Moray Council Party in controlYears 1996–1999 1999–present
Leadership The council appoints a 'civic leader' to act as its ceremonial figurehead. Since 2012, political leadership has been provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2012 have been:
Councillor Party From To Notes Allan Wright 9 May 2012 1 Jan 2015 Stewart Cree 1 Jan 2015 May 2017 George Alexander 24 May 2017 13 Jun 2018 Graham Leadbitter 13 Jun 2018 May 2022 Neil McLennan 18 May 2022 Jun 2022 Joint leaders Kathleen Robertson Kathleen Robertson Jun 2022
Composition Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes up to December 2025, the composition of the council was:
Party Councillors 10 7 3 2 4Total26
One of the independent councillors describes themselves as a "non-aligned Conservative". The next election is due in 2027.
Elections
The council consists of 26 councillors elected for a five-year term from 8 wards. Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, replacing the first-past-the-post voting system.
The most recent full council election took place on 5 May 2022, in which no party won a majority of seats, as has been the case since the 2007 election. The Conservatives won 11 seats therefore overtaking the Scottish National Party, on 8 seats, as the largest party. Labour won 3 seats, whilst both the Liberal Democrats and the Greens won 1 seat each. Independents won 2 seats, a decline of 6, their worst result since the 1995 election.
The next full council election is due to take place on 6 May 2027. Election results since 1995 have been as follows: YearSeatsConservativeSNPLabourLiberal DemocratsGreenIndependent / OtherNotes1995180133102SNP majority1999261262015No overall control2003261351016Independent majority2007263920012No overall control20122631030010No overall control201726891008No overall control2022261183112No overall control Premises The council meets at the Council Offices on High Street in Elgin. The older part of the building facing High Street was completed in 1952 adjoining Elgin Sheriff Court for the former joint Moray and Nairn County Council. Large extensions were later added to the south of the building, facing Greyfriars Street. In 2012 the council opened an additional annexe nearby at 2–10 High Street in a converted supermarket.
Wards The current multi-member ward system (8 wards, 26 seats) was introduced for the 2007 election: Wardnumber Name Location Seats 1 Speyside Glenlivet 3 2 Keith and Cullen 3 3 Buckie 3 4 Fochabers Lhanbryde 3 5 Heldon and Laich 4 6 Elgin City North 3 7 Elgin City South 3 8 Forres 4
References