| Moray Council | |
| Native Name: | Comhairle Mhoireibh |
| Coa Pic: | Coat_of_arms_of_Moray_Area_Council.svg |
| Coa Caption: | Coat of arms |
| Logo Pic: | The Moray Council.svg |
| Logo Res: | 150px |
| Preceded By: | Moray District Council (1975-1996) |
| House Type: | Unitary authority |
| Leader1 Type: | Civic Leader |
| Leader1: | John Cowe |
| Party1: | Independent |
| Election1: | 10 August 2022 |
| Leader2 Type: | Leader |
| Leader2: | Kathleen Robertson |
| Party2: | Conservative |
| Election2: | 18 May 2022[1] |
| Leader3 Type: | Chief Executive (interim) |
| Leader3: | John Mundell |
| Election3: | May 2024[2] |
| Seats: | 26 councillors |
| Structure1: | File:MorayCouncilNovember2024.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 250px |
| Structure1 Alt: | Moray Council political balance, May 2023 |
| Political Groups1: |
|
| Voting System1: | Single transferable vote |
| Last Election1: | 5 May 2022 |
| Next Election1: | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting Place: | Council Offices, High Street, Elgin, IV301BX |
| Session Room: | Council Headquarters - geograph.org.uk - 3925590.jpg |
Moray Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Mhoireibh) is the local government authority for Moray council area.
Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced the counties and burghs with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Moray became a district within the Grampian region. Under that system, the authority was named Moray District Council. Moray District covered the same area as the modern-day unitary authority.
Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts created in 1975 and established 32 single-tier council areas across Scotland, one being Moray.
The first election to Moray District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows:[3]
Moray District Council
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1975–1988 | ||
| 1988–1996 | ||
Moray Council
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–1999 | ||
| 1999–2002 | ||
| 2002–2007 | ||
| 2007–present | ||
Since 2012, political leadership has been provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since then have been:[4]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Wright | 9 May 2012 | 1 Jan 2015 | |||
| Stewart Cree[5] | 1 Jan 2015 | May 2017 | |||
| George Alexander | 24 May 2017 | 13 Jun 2018 | |||
| 13 Jun 2018 | 18 May 2022 | ||||
| Neil McLennan[6] | 18 May 2022 | 11 Jul 2022 | Joint leaders | ||
| Kathleen Robertson | |||||
| Kathleen Robertson | 11 Jul 2022 | ||||
Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes up to November 2024, the composition of the council was:[7] [8]
| Party | Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 1 | |||
| Total | 26 | ||
One of the independent councillors describes themselves as a "non-aligned Conservative".[9] The next election is due in 2027.[10]
The council consists of 26 councillors elected for a five-year term from 8 wards. Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, replacing the first-past-the-post voting system.
The most recent full council election took place on 5 May 2022, in which no party won a majority of seats, as has been the case since the 2007 election. The Conservatives won 11 seats therefore overtaking the Scottish National Party, on 8 seats, as the largest party. Labour won 3 seats, whilst both the Liberal Democrats and the Greens won 1 seat each. Independents won 2 seats, a decline of 6, their worst result since the 1995 election.
The next full council election is due to take place on 6 May 2027. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:
| Year | Seats | Conservative | SNP | Labour | Liberal Democrats | Green | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 18 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | SNP majority |
| 1999 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 15 | No overall control |
| 2003 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | Independent majority |
| 2007 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | No overall control |
| 2012 | 26 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | No overall control |
| 2017 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | No overall control |
| 2022 | 26 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | No overall control |
The council meets at the Council Offices on High Street in Elgin. The older part of the building facing High Street was completed in 1952 adjoining Elgin Sheriff Court for the former joint Moray and Nairn County Council.[11] Large extensions were later added to the south of the building, facing Greyfriars Street. In 2012 the council opened an additional annexe nearby at 2–10 High Street in a converted supermarket.[12]
The current multi-member ward system (8 wards, 26 seats) was introduced for the 2007 election:
| Ward number | Name | Location | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speyside Glenlivet | 3 | ||
| 2 | Keith and Cullen | 3 | ||
| 3 | Buckie | 3 | ||
| 4 | Fochabers Lhanbryde | 3 | ||
| 5 | Heldon and Laich | 4 | ||
| 6 | Elgin City North | 3 | ||
| 7 | Elgin City South | 3 | ||
| 8 | Forres | 4 |