| Election Name: | 2022 Moray Council election |
| Flag Image: | File:Coat of arms of Moray Area Council.svg |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | No |
| Previous Election: | 2017 Moray Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2017 |
| Next Election: | 2027 Moray Council election |
| Next Year: | 2027 |
| Seats For Election: | All 26 seats to Moray Council |
| Majority Seats: | 14 |
| Turnout: | 45.0% |
| 3Blank: | Swing (pp)--> |
| Leader1: | Tim Eagle (not standing for re-election) |
| Party1: | Scottish Conservatives |
| Leaders Seat1: | Did not contest |
| Seats Before1: | 9 |
| Seats1: | 11 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Leader2: | & |
| Party2: | Scottish National Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Elgin City South & Fochabers Lhanbryde |
| Seats Before2: | 9 |
| Seats2: | 8 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Council Leader | |
| Before Election: | Graham Leadbitter[1] |
| Before Party: | Scottish National Party |
| Posttitle: | Council Leader after election |
| After Election: | Neil McLennan & Kathleen Robertson |
| After Party: | Scottish Conservatives |
| Leader3: | John Divers |
| Party3: | Scottish Labour |
| Leaders Seat3: | Elgin City South |
| Seats Before3: | 1 |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seat Change3: | 2 |
| Leader4: | Various |
| Party4: | Independent (politician) |
| Leaders Seat4: | Various |
| Seats Before4: | 7 |
| Seats4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 6 |
| Leader5: | Christopher Thomas Price |
| Party5: | Scottish Liberal Democrats |
| Leaders Seat5: | Buckie |
| Seats Before5: | 0 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Party6: | Scottish Green |
| Leaders Seat6: | Did not contest |
| Seats Before6: | 0 |
| Seats6: | 1 |
| Seat Change6: | 1 |
| Percentage1: | 36.2% |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,698 |
| Popular Vote2: | 10,613 |
| Percentage2: | 36.0% |
| Percentage3: | 12.3% |
| Popular Vote3: | 3,641 |
| Percentage4: | 7.9% |
| Percentage5: | 3.8% |
| Percentage6: | 3.4% |
| Popular Vote4: | 2,327 |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,121 |
| Popular Vote6: | 1,001 |
| Swing1: | 0.1% |
| Swing2: | 4.4% |
| Swing3: | 8.0% |
| Swing5: | 2.6% |
| Swing6: | 0.8% |
| Swing4: | 16.2% |
| Registered: | 66,419 |
| Map2 Image: | File:MorayCouncilStructureMay2022.svg |
The 2022 Moray Council election was held 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]
See main article: 2017 Moray Council 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 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.
| SNP | 9 | 31.6% | ||
| Conservative | 8 | 36.1% | ||
| Independent | 8 | 24.1% | ||
| Labour | 1 | 4.3% |
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.
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]
| SNP | 9 | 9 | ||
| Conservative | 8 | 9 | ||
| Independent | 8 | 7 | ||
| Labour | 1 | 1 |
| Party | Retiring Councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Speyside Glenlivet | Independent | Walter Wilson | |
| SNP | Louise Laing | ||
| Keith and Cullen | Conservative | Laura Powell | |
| Buckie | Conservative | Tim Eagle | |
| Independent | Gordon Cowie | ||
| Heldon and Laich | SNP | Amy Patience | |
| Independent | Ryan Edwards | ||
| Elgin City North | Conservative | Frank Brown | |
| Moira McLean | |||
| Elgin City South | Conservative | Ray McLean | |
| Forres | SNP | Aaron McLean | |
| Conservative | Claire Feaver | ||
| Independent | George Alexander | ||
| Lorna Creswell |
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.
Source:[8]
|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward! %
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!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"|
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.
| 2017 | 2022 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Party | Member | |||
| Keith and Cullen | Independent | Ron Shepherd | Conservative | Tracy Colyer | ||
| Buckie | Independent | Gordon Cowie | Liberal Democrats | Christopher Price | ||
| Fochobers Lhanbryde | SNP | David Bremner | Labour | Ben Williams | ||
| Heldon and Laich | Independent | Ryan Edwards | Conservative | Bridget Mustard | ||
| Elgin City North | Independent | Sandy Cooper | Labour | Sandy Keith | ||
| Forres | Independent | George Alexander | Conservative | Paul McBain | ||
| Independent | Lorna Creswell | Greens | Draeyk Van der Horn | |||
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:
Incumbent councillors:
Incumbent councillors:
| Buckie - 3 seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | ||
| Conservative | Neil McLennan | ||
| Liberal Democrat | Christopher Thomas Price | ||
| SNP | Sonya Warren (incumbent) | ||
Source:[15]
Incumbent councillors:
Incumbent councillors:
Incumbent councillors:
Incumbent councillors:
Incumbent councillors:
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.[26] [27]
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."[28] [29]
In August 2022, the sole Liberal Democrat councillor Christopher Price resigned after only 109 days in the job.[30] [31] A by-election was held in the Buckie ward on 3 November 2022, and was won by SNP candidate John Stuart.[32] [33]
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.[36] [37] A by-election was held in the Elgin City South ward on 7 November 2024, and was won by Conservative candidate Elaine Kirby.[38] [39]