2022 Moray Council election

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.

On 18 May 2022, it was announced that the council would be run by a minority Conservative group, alongside two Independents.

Previous 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 Scottish 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 Scottish 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:

Composition
One by-election was held during the 2017-22 term, which resulted in a Conservative gain from the SNP.

Summary of results
Source:

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.

Ward summary
!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! %
 * - class="unsortable" align="centre"

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SNP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Lab !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| Conservative !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Green !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Lib Dem !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Speyside Glenlivet
 * bgcolor="" |36.77
 * bgcolor="" |1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 33.83
 * 1
 * 8.57
 * 0
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 20.83
 * 1
 * 3
 * align="left"|Keith and Cullen
 * 43.50
 * 1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|43.68
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|2
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 9.94
 * 0
 * 2.88
 * 0
 * 3
 * align="left"|Buckie
 * N/A
 * 1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * N/A
 * 1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * N/A
 * 1
 * N/A
 * colspan="1" N/A
 * 3
 * align="left"|Fochabers Lhanbryde
 * bgcolor="" |42.99
 * bgcolor="" |1
 * 10.11
 * 1
 * 39.79
 * 1
 * colspan="6" N/A
 * 3
 * align="left"|Heldon and Laich
 * 29.48
 * 1
 * 7.68
 * 0
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|39.71
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|2
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 4.62
 * 0
 * 18.52
 * 1
 * 3
 * align="left"|Elgin City North
 * bgcolor="" |32.60
 * bgcolor="" |1
 * 28.49
 * 1
 * 25.88
 * 1
 * 4.49
 * 0
 * 3.92
 * 0
 * 4.62
 * 0
 * 3
 * align="left"|Elgin City South
 * bgcolor="" |35.55
 * bgcolor="" |1
 * 28.11
 * 1
 * 26.83
 * 1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 3.05
 * 0
 * 6.45
 * 0
 * 4
 * align="left"|Forres
 * 34.29
 * 1
 * 10.62
 * 0
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|40.91
 * bgcolor="#add8e6"|2
 * 9.1
 * 1
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 5.10
 * 0
 * 4
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 26
 * }
 * colspan="2" N/A
 * 5.10
 * 0
 * 4
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * 26
 * }
 * }

Ward results
The incumbent councillors for each ward as of March 2022 are listed below. Any changes from the councillors elected in the 2017 Moray Council election are also noted. Candidates for the election were confirmed on 30 March 2022.

Speyside Glenlivet
Incumbent councillors:
 * Derek Ross, Independent
 * Walter Wilson, Independent (elected as Conservative)
 * Louise Laing, Scottish National Party

Keith and Cullen
Incumbent councillors:
 * Donald Gatt, Scottish Conservatives
 * Theresa Coull, Scottish National Party
 * Laura Powell, Scottish Conservatives. Replaced Ron Shepherd (Independent) in November 2019.

Buckie
Incumbent councillors: Candidates (uncontested):
 * Tim Eagle, Scottish Conservatives
 * Gordon Cowie, Councillors Open Group (elected as Independent)
 * Sonya Warren, Scottish National Party

Fochabers Lhanbryde
Incumbent councillors:
 * Marc Macrae, Scottish Conservatives
 * Shona Morrison, Scottish National Party
 * David Bremner, Scottish National Party

Heldon and Laich
Incumbent councillors:
 * James Allan, Scottish Conservatives
 * Amy Patience, Scottish National Party
 * John Cowe, Independent
 * Ryan Edwards, Independent

Elgin City North
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.

Elgin City South
Incumbent councillors:
 * Ray McLean, Scottish Conservatives
 * John Divers, Scottish Labour
 * Graham Leadbitter, Scottish National Party

Forres
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)

Aftermath
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.

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

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

3 November 2022