2017 Moray Council election

2017 Scottish local government election

2017 Moray Council election

* * *

| <- 2012 | 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) | 2022 ->

|
|

* * *

All 26 seats to Moray Council
14 seats needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Graham Leadbitter & Shona Morrison | Tim Eagle
Party  | SNP | Conservative
Leader's seat  | Elgin South & Fochabers Lhanbryde | Buckie
Last election  | 10 seats, 39.4% | 3 seats, 17.5%
Seats before  | 11  | 10
Seats won  | 9  | 8
Seat change  | 1  | 5
Popular vote  | 10,518  | 12,010
Percentage  | 31.6%  | 36.1%
Swing  |  7.9%  |  18.6%

* * *

| Third party  | Fourth party
|  |
Leader  | George Alexander  | John Divers
Party  | Independent | Labour
Leader's seat  | Forres | Elgin City South
Last election  | 10 seats, 28.8% | 3 seats, 9.2%
Seats before  | 3  | 2
Seats won  | 8  | 1
Seat change  | 2  | 2
Popular vote  | 8,022  | 1,483
Percentage  | 24.1%  | 4.3%
Swing  |  4.8%  | 4.9%

* * *

The 8 multi-member wards

* * *

* * *

| Council Leader before election

Stewart Cree
Independent

| Council Leader after election

George Alexander
Independent

|

The 2017 Moray Council election was held on Thursday 4 May 2017, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. It was the third successive Local Council election to run under the STV Electoral System. The election used the eight wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 26 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system \- a form of proportional representation.

Following the election, a Conservative-Independent administration was formed. Independent councillor George Alexander was appointed Leader of the council, while Conservative councillor James Allan was appointed Convenor of the council.

In May 2018, all but one of the Conservative councillors left the administration, leaving the independents and Convenor James Allan in a minority administration. Following negotiations with other groups, the SNP formed a minority administration in June 2018, with Graham Leadbitter taking on the role of Council Leader and Shona Morrison being appointed Convenor, the first women to take on the role in Moray Council's history.

## Background

[edit]

### Previous election

[edit]

Main article: 2012 Moray Council election

At the previous election in 2012, the Scottish National Party saw their seat count increase by 1, and became the largest grouping on the council by vote share. The Independent group lost 2 seats and the Conservatives held all of their seats. Labour increased their representation on the council by 1. Due to the SNP not having enough seats to form an administration, the previous coalition between the Conservatives and the Independents group stayed as the Council's administration.

2012 Moray Council election result  Party  | Seats  | Vote share

|
|

SNP | 10  | 39.4%
Independent | 10  | 28.8%
Conservative | 3  | 17.5%
Labour | 3  | 9.2%

Source:[1][2]

### Composition

[edit]

There were 5 by-elections in the 2012-17 term. There were 2 by-elections in the Heldon & Laich ward: one resulted in an Independent gain from SNP, and the other was an Independent hold. There were 2 further by-elections in the Buckie ward: one resulted in an SNP gain from Independent, and the other resulted in an Independent hold. The other by-election was held in the Elgin City North ward, which resulted in an SNP gain from Labour.

Composition of Moray Council  Party  | 2012 election  | Dissolution

|
|

SNP | 10  | 11
Independent | 10  | 3
Conservative | 3  | 10
Labour | 3  | 2

Source:[2]

## Results

[edit]

2017 Moray Council election result  Party  | Seats  | Gains  | Losses  | Net gain/loss  | Seats %  | Votes %  | Votes  | +/−

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| SNP | 9  | 0  | 1  |  1  | 34.6  | 31.6  | 10,518  |  7.8
| Conservative | 8  | 5  | 0  |  5  | 30.8  | 36.1  | 12,010  |  18.6
| Independent | 8  | 0  | 2  |  2  | 30.8  | 24.1  | 8,022  |  4.8
| Labour | 1  | 0  | 2  |  2  | 3.8  | 4.3  | 1,438  |  4.9
| Scottish Green | 0  | 0  | 0  |  | 0.0  | 2.6  | 853  |  0.2
| Liberal Democrats | 0  | 0  | 0  |  | 0.0  | 1.2  | 410  |  0.6
Total | 26  |  |  |  |  |  | 33,296  |

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 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Source:[3][4]

## Ward results

[edit]

### Speyside Glenlivet

[edit]

* 2012: 2 X SNP & 1 X Independent
* 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent
* 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from SNP

Speyside Glenlivet – 3 Seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4
| Conservative | Walter Wilson | 35.9  | 1,307 |  |  |
| Independent | Derek Ross | 23.6  | 858  | 1,107 |  |
| SNP | Louise Laing | 21.3  | 776  | 782  | 821  | 1,458
| SNP | Angus Anderson  | 19.2  | 698  | 705  | 727  |
Electorate: 7,365  Valid: 3,639  Spoilt: 77  Quota: 910  Turnout: 50.5%

Source:[5][6]

### Keith and Cullen

[edit]

* 2012: 2 X Independent & 1 X SNP
* 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent
* 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from Independent

Keith and Cullen – 3 Seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4
| Conservative | Donald Gatt | 32.7  | 1,208 |  |  |
| SNP | Theresa Coull | 29.5  | 1,088 |  |  |
| Independent | Ron Shepherd (incumbent)  | 18.02  | 665  | 765  | 783  | 1,069
| SNP | Iain Grieve  | 10.2  | 375  | 382  | 510  | 570
| Independent | Rob Barsby  | 9.6  | 354  | 442  | 447  |
Electorate: 8,118  Valid: 3,690  Spoilt: 62  Quota: 923  Turnout: 46.2%

Source:[7][8]

### Buckie

[edit]

* 2012: 2 X Independent & 1 X SNP
* 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent
* 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from Independent

Buckie – 3 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4
| Conservative | Tim Eagle | 33.8  | 1,060 |  |  |
| Independent | Gordon Cowie (incumbent)  | 21.4  | 673  | 826 |  |
| SNP | Sonya Warren (incumbent)  | 22.8  | 716  | 728  | 734  | 1,369
| SNP | Gordon McDonald (incumbent)  | 22.0  | 691  | 702  | 710  |
Electorate: 7,962  Valid: 3,140  Spoilt: 47  Quota: 786  Turnout: 40.0%

Source:[9][10]

### Fochabers Lhanbryde

[edit]

* 2012: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Labour
* 2017: 2 X SNP & 1 X Conservative
* 2012-2017: SNP gain one seat from Labour

Fochabers Lhanbryde – 3 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
| Conservative | Marc Macrae | 42.7  | 1,747 |  |  |  |  |  |
| SNP | Shona Morrison | 16.7  | 682  | 702  | 708  | 738  | 759  | 794  | 872
| SNP | David Bremner | 17.4  | 711  | 722  | 729  | 752  | 760  | 792  | 862
| Independent | Ian Taylor  | 6.7  | 274  | 361  | 374  | 441  | 578  | 701  |
| Liberal Democrats | Donald Cameron  | 5.2  | 211  | 318  | 394  | 445  | 511  |  |
| Independent | Kenneth Gillespie  | 4.1  | 166  | 282  | 294  | 344  |  |  |
| Independent | Sean Morton (incumbent)  | 5.3  | 215  | 284  | 289  |  |  |  |
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Horton  | 2.0  | 83  | 142  |  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 8,089  Valid: 4,089  Spoilt: 71  Quota: 1,023  Turnout: 51.4%

Source:[11][12]

### Heldon & Laich

[edit]

* 2012: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative
* 2017: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative
* 2012-2017: No change

Heldon and Laich – 4 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
| Conservative | James Allan | 37.9  | 1,953 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | John Cowe (incumbent)  | 15.3  | 789  | 1,045 |  |  |  |  |
| SNP | Amy Patience | 18.9  | 976  | 996  | 997  | 1,014  | 1,110 |  |
| Independent | Ryan Edwards | 10.5  | 541  | 662  | 668  | 706.01  | 769  | 788  | 1,170
| Independent | Dennis Slater (incumbent)  | 10.2  | 527  | 658  | 663  | 693  | 760  | 778  |
| Scottish Green | James Mackessack-Leitch  | 4.7  | 240  | 286.8  | 288  | 347  |  |  |
| Liberal Democrats | John Mitchell  | 2.3  | 116  | 201  | 201  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 10,737  Valid: 5,142  Spoilt: 44  Quota: 1,029  Turnout: 48.3%

Source:[13][14]

### Elgin City North

[edit]

* 2012: 2 X SNP & 1 X Labour
* 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent
* 2012-2017: Conservative & Independent each gain one seat from SNP & Labour

Elgin City North – 3 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
| Conservative | Frank Brown | 32.9  | 1,181 |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | Sandy Cooper | 14.9  | 532  | 606  | 767  | 933 |  |
| SNP | Paula Coy | 17.7  | 634  | 639  | 672  | 714  | 720  | 1,279
| SNP | Patsy Gowans (incumbent)  | 15.0  | 537  | 540  | 557  | 630  | 634  |
| Labour | Nick Taylor  | 11.9  | 429  | 477  | 536  |  |  |
| Independent | Billy Adams  | 7.4  | 266  | 339  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 9,237  Valid: 3,579  Spoilt: 65  Quota: 895  Turnout: 39.5%

Source:[15][16]

### Elgin City South

[edit]

* 2012: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Labour
* 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Labour
* 2012-2017: No change

Elgin City South – 3 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2
| Conservative | Ray McLean | 35.9  | 1,460 |
| SNP | Graham Leadbitter (incumbent)  | 30.7  | 1,245 |
| Labour | John Divers (incumbent)  | 24.8  | 1,009  | 1,126
| Independent | Sean Malone  | 8.5  | 347  | 531
Electorate: 9,551  Valid: 4,061  Spoilt: 42  Quota: 1,016  Turnout: 43.0%

Source:[17][18]

### Forres

[edit]

* 2012: 3 X Independent & 1 X SNP
* 2017: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative
* 2012-2017: Conservative gain from Independent

Forres \- 4 seats  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
| Conservative | Claire Feaver | 35.4  | 2,094 |  |  |  |  |  |
| SNP | Aaron McLean (incumbent)  | 23.5  | 1,389 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | George Alexander (incumbent)  | 16.6  | 981  | 1,247 |  |  |  |  |
| Scottish Green | Fabio Villani  | 10.4  | 613  | 671  | 767  | 773  | 778  | 835  |
| Independent | Lorna Creswell (incumbent)  | 9.4  | 555  | 739  | 779  | 815  | 841  | 1,015  | 1,505
| Independent | Jeff Hamilton  | 4.1  | 243  | 335  | 349  | 360  | 381  |  |
| Independent | Terry Monaghan  | 0.6  | 36  | 54  | 60  | 62  |  |  |
Electorate: 12,116  Valid: 5,911  Spoilt: 47  Quota: 1,183  Turnout: 49.2%

Source:[19][20]

## Aftermath

[edit]

As no single party was able to form an administration on its own, a coalition administration between the Conservatives and the Independent group was formed, which was a continuation of the coalition administration since 2007. An independent councillor was appointed council leader and a Conservative councillor was appointed Convenor.

However, in May 2018, the Conservative-Independent administration collapsed. After negotiations with other groups, the SNP formed a minority administration in June 2018, with SNP co-leaderGraham Leadbitter taking on the role of Council Leader and SNP co-leader Shona Morrison being appointed Convenor.

On 21 October 2017, Speyside Glenlivet Conservative councillor Walter Wilson resigned from the party group following disagreements with colleagues in the party group. He sat as an Independent.[21]

### Elgin City North by-election

[edit]

On 10 May 2017, independent councillor Sandy Cooper resigned his seat less than a week after being elected in the 2017 elections. A by-election took place in the Elgin City North ward on 13 July 2017.[22] The seat was won by Conservative candidate Maria Mclean.

Elgin City North by-election (13 July 2017) - 1 seat  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3
| Conservative | Maria McLean | 40.0  | 923  | 970  | 1,061
| SNP | Patsy Gowans  | 38.8  | 895  | 904  | 994
| Labour | Nick Taylor  | 15.8  | 365  | 389  |
| Independent | Terry Monaghan  | 5.4  | 124  |  |
Electorate: 9,354  Valid: 2,307  Spoilt: 17  Quota: 1,155  Turnout: 24.8%

Source:[23][24]

### Keith and Cullen by-election

[edit]

On 24 October 2019, independent councillor Ron Shepherd retired due to ill-health.[25] A by-election was held in the Keith and Cullen ward on 21 November 2019 and it was won by the Conservative candidate Laura Powell.

Keith and Cullen by-election (21 November 2019) - 1 seat  Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3
| Conservative | Laura Powell | 41.5  | 1,142  | 1,177  | 1,339
| SNP | Jock McKay  | 38.1  | 1,047  | 1,077  | 1,184
| Independent | Rob Barsby  | 12.7  | 349  | 430  |
| Liberal Democrats | Ian Aitchison  | 7.7  | 212  |  |
Electorate: 8,191  Valid: 2,778  Spoilt: 28  Quota: 1,376  Turnout: 33.9%

Source:[26][27]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Faulds, Allan. "Moray Council 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
2. ^ a b Teale, Andrew. "Local Election Results 2012". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
3. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Election Results 2017". Local Election Archive Project.
4. ^ "Moray Council Election Results 2017". Moray.gov. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
5. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 1 - Speyside Glenlivet" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
6. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 1 - Speyside Glenlivet" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
7. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 2 - Keith and Cullen" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
8. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 2 - Keith and Cullen" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
9. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 3 - Buckie" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
10. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 3 - Buckie" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
11. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 3 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
12. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 4 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
13. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 5 - Heldon and Laich" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
14. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 5 - Heldon and Laich" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
15. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 6 - Elgin City North" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
16. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 6 -Elgin City North" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
17. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 7 - Elgin City South" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
18. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 7 - Elgin City South" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
19. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 8 - Forres" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
20. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 8 - Forres" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
21. ^ "Councillor criticised over Moray budget comments". BBC News. 21 November 2017.
22. ^ Davidson, Peter. "Councillor steps down after less than week in job". Evening Express. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
23. ^ "Moray Council Local Government By-Election" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
24. ^ "Local Government By-Election Ward 6 - Elgin City North" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
25. ^ "End of an era as Shepherd calls it a day". 24 September 2019.
26. ^ "The Moray Council Local Government By-Election" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
27. ^ "Local Government By-Election Ward 2 - Keith and Cullen" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.

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