Elections to Moray Council took place on 5 May 2022, on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

The Conservatives were returned as the largest party on the council for the first time, returning 11 seats out of 26 – three short of an overall majority. The Scottish National Party (SNP) returned 8 seats – down 1 from 2017 and Labour won 3 seats – an increase of 2 from 2017. Independent candidates took 2 seats – a decline of 6 from 2017, and also their worst showing since the 1995 election. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens won 1 seat each – both an increase of 1 from 2017.

Following the election, it was announced that the council would be run by a minority Conservative group, alongside two independents, with councillors Neil McLennan and Kathleen Robertson becoming co-leaders of the council, and councillor Marc Macrae becoming convenor.

Background

Previous election

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 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 Labour councillors. Following the result, a Conservative-Independent administration was formed, with independent councillor George Alexander being appointed council leader. However, in May 2018, the Conservative-Independent administration collapsed after several members of the administration walked away. One month later, the SNP group formed a minority administration, following negotiations with other groups. +2017 Moray Council election resultPartySeatsVote shareSNP931.6%Conservative836.1%Independent824.1%Labour14.3% Source:

Electoral system The election used the 8 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 26 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Composition There were two by-elections during the 2017-22 term. One by-election was held in the Elgin City North ward in May 2017, which resulted in a Conservative gain from independent. The other by-election was held in the Keith and Cullen ward in October 2019, which also resulted in a Conservative gain from independent. One Conservative councillor left the Conservative group in October 2017, he sat as an independent for the remainder of the term. +Composition of Moray CouncilParty2017 electionDissolutionSNP99Conservative89Independent87Labour11

Retiring Councillors +Retiring councillorsCouncil WardPartyRetiring CouncillorSpeyside GlenlivetIndependentWalter WilsonSNPLouise LaingKeith and CullenConservativeLaura PowellBuckieConservativeTim EagleIndependentGordon CowieHeldon and LaichSNPAmy PatienceIndependentRyan EdwardsElgin City NorthConservativeFrank BrownMoira McLeanElgin City SouthConservativeRay McLeanForresSNPAaron McLeanConservativeClaire FeaverIndependentGeorge AlexanderLorna Creswell Source:

Candidates The total number of candidates fell from 45 in 2017 to 42. Unlike in 2017, the Conservatives stood the most candidates, standing 11, an increase of 3, while the SNP stood 4 less candidates compared to 2017 at 9. The number of independent candidates fell sharply, with only 6 independents standing, compared to 17 in 2017. Liberal Democrats also stood 6 candidates, an increase of 3, while Labour stood 5, also an increase of 3. The Greens stood 3, an increase of 1, and the Scottish Family Party and the Sovereignty Party also stood 1 candidate each.

Results

Source:

Ward summary

|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats ! % !Seats !rowspan=2|Total |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Con !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SNP !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| Lab !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Lib Dem !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Grn !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others |- |align="left"|Speyside Glenlivet |33.8 |1 |bgcolor="" |36.8 |bgcolor="" |1 |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |8.6 |0 |20.8 |1 |3 |- |align="left"|Keith and Cullen |bgcolor="#add8e6"|43.7 |bgcolor="#add8e6"|2 |43.5 |1 |colspan="2" |9.9 |0 |colspan="2" |2.9 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Buckie | |1 | |1 |colspan="2" | |1 |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |3 |- |align="left"|Fochabers Lhanbryde |39.8 |1 |bgcolor="" |43.0 |bgcolor="" |1 |10.1 |1 |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |3 |- |align="left"|Heldon and Laich |bgcolor="#add8e6"|39.7 |bgcolor="#add8e6"|2 |29.5 |1 |7.7 |0 |4.6 |0 |colspan="2" |18.5 |1 |4 |- |align="left"|Elgin City North |25.9 |1 |bgcolor="" |32.6 |bgcolor="" |1 |28.5 |1 |3.9 |0 |4.5 |0 |4.6 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Elgin City South |26.8 |1 |bgcolor="" |35.6 |bgcolor="" |1 |28.1 |1 |3.1 |0 |colspan="2" |6.5 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Forres |bgcolor="#add8e6"|40.9 |bgcolor="#add8e6"|2 |34.3 |1 |10.6 |0 |colspan="2" |9.1 |1 |5.1 |0 |4 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !align="left"| Total !36.2 !11 !36.0 !8 !12.3 !3 !3.8 !1 !3.4 !1 !8.3 !2 !26 |- |}Source:

Seats changing hands Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat. +Seats changing handsSeat20172022PartyMemberPartyMemberKeith and CullenIndependentRon ShepherdConservativeTracy ColyerBuckieIndependentGordon CowieLiberal DemocratsChristopher PriceFochabers LhanbrydeSNPDavid BremnerLabourBen WilliamsHeldon and LaichIndependentRyan EdwardsConservativeBridget MustardElgin City NorthIndependentSandy CooperLabourSandy KeithForresIndependentGeorge AlexanderConservativePaul McBainIndependentLorna CreswellGreensDraeyk Van der Horn Source:

Ward results Speyside Glenlivet The SNP, the Conservatives and the independent candidate Derek Ross retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Keith and Cullen The SNP (1), and the Conservatives (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election. <onlyinclude><onlyinclude>

Buckie The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election, while the Liberal Democrats gained the seat won by an independent candidate at the previous election.

Fochabers Lhanbryde The Conservatives retained the seat they had won at the previous election, while the SNP retained won of the two seats they had at the previous election while Labour gained one from the SNP.

Heldon and Laich The SNP, and the Conservatives, and the independent candidate John Cowe retained the seats they had won at the previous election, while the Conservatives also gained one from an independent.

Elgin City North The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election, while Labour gained one seat from an independent.

Elgin City South The SNP, Labour, and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Forres The SNP, and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election, while the Conservatives and the Greens also gained one seat from an independent each.

Aftermath Both the SNP and Conservative groups 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 Elgin City South SNP councillor 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 Buckie Conservative councillor Neil McLennan and Forres Conservative councillor Kathleen Robertson.

In July 2022, Buckie Conservative councillor Neil McLennan left the Conservative grouping on the council after being removed as joint group leader in a secret vote.

In August 2022, Heldon and Laich Conservative councillor James Allan left the Conservative grouping on the council, and now sits as a "non-aligned Conservative."

In May 2024, Buckie SNP councillor John Stuart left the SNP group on the council to sit as an independent. In December 2025, he joined the Greens.

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

Elgin City South by-election In July 2024, SNP councillor Graham Leadbitter was elected to be the MP for the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency at the 2024 United Kingdom general election and decided to resign as a councillor on 14 August 2024. A by-election was held in the Elgin City South ward on 7 November 2024, and was won by Conservative candidate Elaine Kirby.

References