2017 Moray Council election

The 2017 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.

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.

Previous 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 Scottish Conservatives held all of their seats. Scottish 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. Source:

Composition
There were 5 by-elections in the 2012-17 term. There were 2 by-elections in the Heldon and 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. Source:

Summary of results
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.

Speyside Glenlivet

 * 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

Keith & Cullen

 * 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

 * 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

Fochabers Lhanbryde

 * 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

Heldon & Laich

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

Elgin City North

 * 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 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

Forres

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

Aftermath
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-leader Cllr. Graham Leadbitter taking on the role of Council Leader and SNP co-leader Cllr. Shona Morrison being appointed Convenor.

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

Elgin City North by-election
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. The seat was won by Conservative candidate, Maria Mclean.

Keith and Cullen by-election
On 24 October 2019 Keith and Cullen Independent Cllr Ron Shepherd retired due to ill-health. A by-election was held on 21 November 2019 and it was won by the Conservative's Laura Powell.