2022 Moray Council election

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All 26 seats to Moray Council 14 seats needed for a majority
Registered	66,419
Turnout	45.0%
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 9 1 Seats won 11 8 3 Seat change 3 1 2 Popular vote 10,698 10,613 3,641 Percentage 36.2% 36.0% 12.3% Swing 0.1% 4.4% 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 7 0 0 Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 6 1 1 Popular vote 2,327 1,121 1,001 Percentage 7.9% 3.8% 3.4% Swing 16.2% 2.6% 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 - a form of proportional representation.

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

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 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.

Source: ^{[3] [4]}

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. ^[5] The other by-election was held in the Keith and Cullen ward in October 2019, which also resulted in a Conservative gain from Independent. ^[6] One Conservative councillor left the Conservative group in October 2017, he sat as an Independent for the remainder of the term. ^[7]

2022 Moray Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	11	3	0	3	42.3	36.2	10,698	0.1
	SNP	8	0	1	1	30.8	36.0	10,613	4.4
	Labour	3	2	0	2	11.5	12.3	3,641	8.0
	Independent	2	0	6	6	7.7	7.9	2,327	16.2
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0	1	3.9	3.8	1,121	2.6
	Scottish Green	1	1	0	1	3.9	3.4	1,001	0.8
	Scottish Family	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	99	New
	Sovereignty	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	23	New
Total		26						29,523

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.

Source: ^[8]

The incumbent councillors for each ward as of March 2022 are listed below. ^[9] Candidates for the election were confirmed on 30 March 2022. ^[10]

Incumbent councillors:

• Derek Ross, Independent
• Walter Wilson, Independent (elected as Conservative)
• Louise Laing, Scottish National Party

Source: ^{[11] [12]}

Incumbent councillors:

• Donald Gatt, Scottish Conservatives
• Theresa Coull, Scottish National Party
• Laura Powell, Scottish Conservatives. Replaced Ron Shepherd ( Independent) in November 2019.

Source: ^{[13] [14]}

Incumbent councillors:

• Tim Eagle, Scottish Conservatives
• Gordon Cowie, Councillors Open Group (elected as Independent)
• Sonya Warren, Scottish National Party

Note: This election was uncontested, as there are 3 candidates and 3 seats available.

Source: ^[15]

Incumbent councillors:

• Marc Macrae, Scottish Conservatives
• Shona Morrison, Scottish National Party
• David Bremner, Scottish National Party

Source: ^{[16] [17]}

Incumbent councillors:

• James Allan, Scottish Conservatives
• Amy Patience, Scottish National Party
• John Cowe, Independent
• Ryan Edwards, Independent

Source: ^{[18] [19]}

Incumbent councillors:

• Frank Brown, Scottish Conservatives
• Maria McLean, Scottish Conservatives. Replaced Sandy Cooper ( Independent) in July 2017.
• Vacancy. Paula Coy Scottish National Party was elected in 2017.

Source: ^{[20] [21]}

Incumbent councillors:

• Ray McLean, Scottish Conservatives
• John Divers, Scottish Labour
• Graham Leadbitter, Scottish National Party

Source: ^{[22] [23]}

Incumbent councillors:

• Claire Feaver, Scottish Conservatives
• Aaron McLean, Scottish National Party
• George Alexander, Councillors Open Group (elected as Independent)
• Lorna Creswell, Councillors Open Group (elected as Independent)

Source: ^{[24] [25]}

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]

Cllr Neil McLennan left the Conservative grouping on the council after being removed as joint group leader in July 2022. ^[8] Another formerly Conservative councillor left the Conservative group in August 2022, and now sits as a "non-aligned Conservative."

In August 2022, the sole Liberal Democrat, Cllr. Christopher Price resigned after only 109 days in the job. ^[26] A by-election was held on 3 November 2022 and was won by SNP candidate John Stuart. ^[27]

Source: ^{[28] [29]}