| 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 |
| Seats Needed1: | 6 |
| Seats1: | 11 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Party2: | Scottish National Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Elgin South & Fochabers Lhanbryde |
| Seats Before2: | 9 |
| Seats Needed2: | 5 |
| 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: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leader3: | John Divers |
| Party3: | Scottish Labour |
| Leaders Seat3: | Elgin South |
| Seats Before3: | 1 |
| Seats Needed3: | 13 |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seat Change3: | 2 |
| Leader4: | Various |
| Party4: | Independent (politician) |
| Leaders Seat4: | Various |
| Seats Before4: | 7 |
| Seats Needed4: | 6 |
| Seats4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 6 |
| Leader5: | Christopher Thomas Price |
| Party5: | Scottish Liberal Democrats |
| Leaders Seat5: | Buckie |
| Seats Before5: | 0 |
| Seats Needed5: | 14 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Party6: | Scottish Green |
| Leaders Seat6: | Did not contest |
| Seats Before6: | 0 |
| Seats Needed6: | 14 |
| 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 |
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]
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% |
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 |
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]
|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
!rowspan=2|Total
Cllrs
|- class="unsortable" align="center"!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"|
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 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.
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."
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]