2017 Moray Council election

The elections to Moray Council were 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.

Main article: 2017 Scottish local elections
Moray Council 2017 Election
4 May 2017 (2017-05-04)
All 26 seats to Moray Council
14 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Graham Leadbitter & Shona Morrison Tim Eagle George Alexander
Party SNP Conservative Independent
Leader's seat Elgin South & Fochabers Lhanbryde Buckie Forres
Last election 10 seats, 34.62% 3 seats, 11.54% 10 seats, 46.2%
Seats after 9 seats, 31.6% 8 seats, 36.1% 8 seats, 24.1%
Seat change Decrease1 Increase5 Decrease2
  Fourth party
 
Leader John Divers
Party Labour
Leader's seat Elgin South
Last election 3 seats, 7.7%
Seats after 1 seats, 4.3%
Seat change Decrease2
The 8 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election

Stewart Cree
Independent

 Council Leader after election

George Alexander
Independent

Following the 2017 election, a Conservative-Independent administration was formed. George Alexander (Independent) was appointed Leader of the council, while James Allan (Conservative) 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.

Summary of results
The Moray Council Elections 2017
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SNP 9 0 1 Decrease1 34.6 31.6 10,518 Decrease7.8
  Conservative 8 5 0 Increase5 30.8 36.1 12,010 Increase18.6
  Independent 8 0 2 Decrease2 30.8 24.1 8,022 Decrease4.8
  Labour 1 0 2 Decrease2 3.8 4.3 1,438 Decrease4.9
  Scottish Green 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.6 853 Decrease0.2
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.2 410 Increase0.6

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.

Ward results

Speyside Glenlivet
  • 2012: 2 X SNP & 1 X Independent
  • 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent[1]
  • 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from SNP
Speyside Glenlivet – 3 Seats
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1234
Conservative Walter Wilson† 35.9% 1,307      
Independent Derek Ross 23.6% 858 1,106.5    
SNP Louise Laing 21.3% 776 782.4 820.7 1,457.6
SNP Angus Anderson 19.2% 698 704.9 726.5  
Electorate: 7,365   Valid: 3,639   Spoilt: 77   Quota: 910   Turnout: 3,716 (50.5%)  

    Keith & Cullen
    • 2012: 2 X Independent & 1 X SNP
    • 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent[1]
    • 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from Independent
    Keith & Cullen – 3 Seats
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    1234
    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: 3,752 (46.2%)  

      Buckie
      • 2012: 2 X Independent & 1 X SNP
      • 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent[1]
      • 2012-2017: Conservative gain one seat from Independent
      Buckie – 3 seats
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1234
      Conservative Tim Eagle 33.8 1,060      
      Independent Gordon Cowie (incumbent) 21.4 673 826.3    
      SNP Sonya Warren (incumbent) 22.8 716 728.1 734.4 1,369.4
      SNP Gordon McDonald (incumbent) 22.0 691 701.6 710.3  
      Electorate: 7,962   Valid: 3,140   Spoilt: 47   Quota: 786   Turnout: 3,187 (40%)  

        Fochabers Lhanbryde
        • 2012: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Labour
        • 2017: 2 X SNP & 1 X Conservative[1]
        • 2012-2017: SNP gain one seat from Labour
        Fochabers Lhanbryde – 3 seats
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        1234567
        Conservative Marc Macrae 42.7 1,747            
        SNP Shona Morrison 16.7 682 702.3 708.3 738.1 759.2 793.5 872.3
        SNP David Bremner 17.4 711 722.2 728.6 752.4 760.3 791.9 862.3
        Independent Ian Taylor 6.7 274 361.4 374.2 440.6 578.04 701.4  
        Liberal Democrats Donald Cameron 5.2 211 317.5 393.6 444.9 511.4    
        Independent Kenneth Gillespie 4.06 166 282.04 294.3 344.2      
        Independent Sean Morton (incumbent) 5.3 215 283.8 289.3        
        Liberal Democrats Peter Horton 2.03 83 141.8          
        Electorate: 8,089   Valid: 4,089   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 1,023   Turnout: 4,160 (51.4%)  

          Heldon & Laich
          • 2012: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative
          • 2017: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative[1]
          • 2012-2017: No change
          Heldon and Laich – 4 seats
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          1234567
          Conservative James Allan 37.9 1,953            
          Independent John Cowe (incumbent) 15.3 789 1,044.9          
          SNP Amy Patience 18.9 976 995.9 996.5 1,013.9 1,110.3    
          Independent Ryan Edwards 10.5 541 662.1 667.9 706.01 769.04 788.4 1,169.5
          Independent Dennis Slater (incumbent) 10.2 527 657.6 662.8 692.6 760.3 778.2  
          Scottish Green James Mackessack-Leitch 4.7 240 286.8 287.8 346.8      
          Liberal Democrats John Mitchell 2.3 116 200.7 201.3        
          Electorate: 10,737   Valid: 5,142   Spoilt: 44   Quota: 1,029   Turnout: 5,186 (48.3%)  

            Elgin City North
            • 2012: 2 X SNP & 1 X Labour
            • 2017: 1 X SNP, 1 X Conservative & 1 X Independent[1]
            • 2012-2017: Conservative & Independent each gain one seat from SNP & Labour
            Elgin City North – 3 seats
            PartyCandidateFPv%Count
            123456
            Conservative Frank Brown 32.9 1,181          
            Independent Sandy Cooper† 14.9 532 605.9 767.2 932.5    
            SNP Paula Coy 17.7 634 639.3 671.5 713.7 719.5 1,278.9
            SNP Patsy Gowans (incumbent) 15.0 537 539.7 556.6 630.4 633.8  
            Labour Nick Taylor 11.9 429 477.2 535.9      
            Independent Billy Adams 7.4 266 338.9        
            Electorate: 9,237   Valid: 3,579   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 895   Turnout: 3,644 (39.5%)  

              Elgin City South
              • 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
              PartyCandidateFPv%Count
              12
              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: 4,103 (43%)  

                Forres
                • 2012: 3 X Independent & 1 X SNP
                • 2017: 2 X Independent, 1 X SNP & 1 X Conservative[1]
                • 2012-2017: Conservative gain from Independent
                Forres – 4 seats
                PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                1234567
                Conservative Claire Feaver 35.4 2,094            
                SNP Aaron McLean (incumbent) 23.5 1,389            
                Independent George Alexander (incumbent) 16.6 981 1,247.3          
                Independent Lorna Creswell (incumbent) 9.4 555 738.6 779.08 814.9 840.5 1,015.2 1,504.6
                Scottish Green Fabio Villani 10.4 613 671.3 767.4 773.2 777.9 834.9  
                Independent Jeff Hamilton 4.1 243 334.8 349.3 359.5 380.7    
                Independent Terry Monaghan 0.61 36 54.3 59.8 62.3      
                Electorate: 12,116   Valid: 5,911   Spoilt: 47   Quota: 1,183   Turnout: 5,958 (49.2%)  

                  Changes since 2017
                  • † On 10 May 2017, Elgin City North Independent Cllr Sandy Cooper resigned his seat less than a week after being elected in the 2017 elections. A by-election took place on 13 July 2017.[2] The seat was won by Conservative candidate, Maria Mclean.
                  • †† On 21 October 2017, Speyside Glenlivet Conservative Cllr Walter Wilson resigned from the party group following disagreements with colleagues in the party group. He now sits as an Independent.[3]
                  • ††† On 24 October 2019 Keith and Cullen Independent Cllr Ron Shepherd retired due to ill-health.[4] A by-election was held on 21 November 2019 and it was won by the Conservative's Laura Powell.

                  By-elections since 2017
                  Elgin City North By-election (13 July 2017)
                  PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                  123
                  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: 1153.5   Turnout: 2,324 (24.8%)  
                    Keith and Cullen By-election (21 November 2019)
                    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                    123
                    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: 2,750 (33.9%)  

                      References
                      1. "Moray Council Election Results 2017". Moray.gov. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
                      2. Davidson, Peter. "Councillor steps down after less than week in job". Evening Express. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
                      3. "Councillor criticised over Moray budget comments". BBC News. 21 November 2017.
                      4. "End of an era as Shepherd calls it a day". 24 September 2019.
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