2012 Moray Council election

Elections to the Moray Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other 31 local authorities in Scotland. 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: 2012 Scottish local elections

2012 Moray Council election

3 May 2012 (2012-05-03)
All 26 seats to Moray Council 14 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gary Coull Stewart Cree Allan Wright Party SNP Independent Conservative Leader's seat Speyside Glenlivet Keith and Cullen Heldon and Laich Last election 9 seats, 34.62% 12 seats, 46.2% 3 seats, 11.54% Seats before 10 12 2 Seats won 10 10 3 Seat change 1 2 -   Fourth party   Leader John Divers Party Labour Leader's seat Elgin City South Last election 2 seats, 7.7% Seats before 2 Seats won 3 Seat change 1
Results by ward.
Council Leader before election Gordon McDonald Independent Council Leader after election Allan Wright Conservative

The election saw the Scottish National Party increase their representation by 1 seat, equalling the seat numbers of the Independents who lost 2 seats, while becoming the largest party on the Council in terms of vote share. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party retained their 3 seats while the Scottish Labour Party gained an additional seat.

Following the election a coalition was formed between the Independents and the Conservatives which was a continuance of the arrangement from 2007-2012.

Election summary

The Moray Council elections 2012

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	10	1	0	+1	38.46	39.45	10,124	+4.26
	Independent	10	1	3	-2	38.46	28.78	7,386	-8.16
	Conservative	3	1	1	0	11.54%	17.54	4,501	+1.70
	Labour	3	1	0	+1	11.54%	9.16	2,351	+0.48
	Scottish Green	0	-	-	-	-	2.8	719	+2.8
	UKIP	0	-	-	-	-	1.34	340	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	0	-	-	-	-	0.65	167	-1.08
	Scottish Senior Citizens	0	-	-	-	-	0.3	78	-0.99

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Speyside Glenlivet

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Speyside Glenlivet - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3
	Independent	Fiona Murdoch (incumbent)	27.59%	771
	SNP	Pearl Paul (incumbent)	27.17%	759
	SNP	Mike McConnachie (incumbent)	22.87%	639	656.6	705.6
	Conservative	David Gambles	13.46%	376	393.2	395
	UKIP	Matthew Desmond	5.73%	160	168	170.1
	UKIP	Don Gatt	3.19%	89	96.1	97.9
Electorate: 7,059   Valid: 2,794   Spoilt: 40   Quota: 699   Turnout: 2,834 (39.58%)

Keith and Cullen

• 2007: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Keith and Cullen - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	SNP	Gary Coull (incumbent)	42.45%	1,319
	Independent	Ron Shepherd (incumbent)	22.59%	702	750.5	866.7
	Independent	Stewart Cree (incumbent)	15.25%	474	591.5	706.1	752.5	964.8
	Conservative	Valery Dickson	10.04%	312	336.2
	SNP	Hazel Thain	9.66	300	615.2	633.5	650.6
Electorate: 7,810   Valid: 3,107   Spoilt: 33   Quota: 777   Turnout: 3,140 (39.78%)

Buckie

• 2007: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Buckie - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4
	SNP	Gordon McDonald (incumbent)	38.37%	967
	Independent	Anne McKay (incumbent) ††	25.71%	648
	Independent	Joe Mackay (incumbent) ††††	22.10%	557	596.9	607.2	728.6
	Conservative	Margaret Gambles	7.1%	179	183.2	184.9
	SNP	Linda Scobie McDonald	6.71%	169	449.1	451.7	457.5
Electorate: 7,336   Valid: 2,520   Spoilt: 39   Quota: 631   Turnout: 2,559 (34.35%)

Fochabers Lhanbryde

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Independent

Fochabers Lhanbryde - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4
	Conservative	Douglas Ross (incumbent)	39.5%	1,318
	SNP	Margo Howe	21.82%	728	768.7	810.2	1,335
	SNP	Anita McDonald (incumbent)	18.34%	612	676.1	708.2
	Labour	Sean Morton	15.34%	512	583.5	714.7	793.9
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Horton	5.0%	167	304.1
Electorate: 7,717   Valid: 3,337   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 835   Turnout: 3,365 (43.24%)

Heldon and Laich

• 2007: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Heldon and Laich - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	SNP	Carolle Ralph†	20.0%	797	807
	Independent	Eric McGillivray (incumbent)†††††	18.44%	735	828
	Conservative	Allan Wright (incumbent)	17.26%	688	699	703.4	703.5	763.7	835.8
	SNP	David Stewart (incumbent)	17.01%	678	687	692.1	699.4	740.9
	Independent	Chris Tuke	14.65%	584	659	670	670.4	764.1	921.7
	Scottish Green	James Mackessack-Leitch	6.57%	262	279	281.3	281.7
	Independent	John Gordon	6.05%	241
Electorate: 10,287   Valid: 3,985   Spoilt: 56   Quota: 798   Turnout: 4,041 (38.74%)

Elgin City North

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Independent

Elgin City North - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Labour	Barry Jarvis (incumbent) †††	29.85%	766
	SNP	Mike Shand (incumbent)	23.23%	596	612.5	661.7
	SNP	Patsy Gowans	20.07%	515	526.9	550.4	566.8	688.3
	Conservative	Frank Brown	17.46%	448	466.9	565.8	566.3
	Independent	Darren Margach	9.39%	241	274.2
Electorate: 8,386   Valid: 2,566   Spoilt: 31   Quota: 642   Turnout: 2,597 (30.6%)

Elgin City South

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 1xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Con gain from Independent

Elgin City South - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2
	Labour	John Divers (incumbent)	37.57%	1,073
	Conservative	James Allan	25.0%	714	810.1
	SNP	Graham Leadbitter (incumbent)	23.63%	675	771.1
	SNP	John Sharp (incumbent)	13.8%	394	434
Electorate: 8,356   Valid: 2,856   Spoilt: 40   Quota: 715   Turnout: 2,896 (34.18%)

Forres

• 2007: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012: 3xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con

Forres - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	Independent	George Alexander	25.19%	1,134
	Independent	Lorna Creswell (incumbent)	12.77%	575	650.4	675.5	690.1	814.9	866.5	870.6	987.2
	SNP	Aaron McLean	12.15%	547	559.1	568.5	574.7	588.4	924.1
	Conservative	Paul McBain	10.35%	466	483.5	486.7	507.1	529.4	540.2	541
	Scottish Green	Fabio Villani	10.15%	457	474.7	488.1	492.1	524.2	548.6	551.9	614.2	630.7
	SNP	Irene Ogilvie (incumbent)	9.53%	429	440.3	443.7	446.9	478.2
	Independent	Anne Audrey Skene	9.11%	410	441.2	450.8	468.7	549.9	569.3	571.7	731.6	764.2	1,072.5
	Independent	Jeff Hamilton (incumbent)	6.98%	314	343.8	349.8	356.2
	UKIP	Ian Meiklejohn	2.02%	91	96.1	98.5
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Andy Anderson	1.73%	78	85.4
Electorate: 10,999   Valid: 4,501   Spoilt: 50   Quota: 901   Turnout: 4,551 (40.92%)

Changes since last election

• † Heldon and Laich SNP Cllr Carolle Ralph resigned her seat on 7 December 2012. The by-election was held on 7 March 2013 and was won by the Independent, John Cowe.
• †† Buckie Independent Cllr Anne McKay resigned her seat on 13 November 2013. A by-election was held on 30 January 2014 and was won by the Independent, Gordon Cowie.
• ††† Elgin City North Labour Cllr Barry Jarvis resigned his seat on 26 September 2014 to train as a teacher. A by-election was held on 11 December 2014 and the seat was won by the SNP's Kirsty Reid.
• †††† Buckie Independent Cllr Joe Mackay died on 12 January 2015 after a fall from his mobility scooter. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 26 March 2015 and the seat was won by the SNP's Sonya Warren.
• ††††† Heldon and Laich Independent Cllr Eric McGillivray announced on 31 July 2015 he was standing down from the Council for personal reasons. A by-election was held on 1 October 2015 and the seat was won by the Independent Dennis Slater.

By-elections since 2012

Heldon and Laich By-election (7 March 2013) - 1 Seat[1]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Independent	John Cowe	31.36%	972	1,020	1,058	1,273	1,507
	SNP	Stuart Crowther	26.88%	833	844	891	960	1,005
	Conservative	Pete Bloomfield	15.26%	473	490	516	558
	Independent	Nick Traynor	13.49%	418	459	496
	Scottish Green	James Edward Mackessack-Leitch	7.36%	228	242
	Independent	Jeff Hamilton	5.65%	175
Electorate: 10,579   Valid: 3,099   Spoilt: 38 (1.21%)   Quota: 1,550   Turnout: 3,137 (29.65%)

Buckie By-election (30 January 2014) - 1 Seat[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3
	Independent	Gordon Cowie	43.94	830	907	1,034
	SNP	Linda McDonald	35.47	670	679	710
	Independent	Marc Macrae	11.65	220	248
	Conservative	Margaret Gambles	7.57	143
Electorate: 7,872   Valid: 1,889   Spoilt: 26   Quota: 933   Turnout: 1,915 (24.33%)

Elgin City North By-election (11 December 2014) - 1 Seat[3]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	SNP	Kirsty Ella Reid	37.96	728	748	764	773	850
	Independent	Sandy Cooper	24.61	472	483	499	595	693
	UKIP	Captain Craig Ahab Graham	14.96	287	305	316	368
	Conservative	Alex Griffiths	14.23	273	280	299
	Labour	Ramsay Urquhart	4.22	81	84
	Scottish Green	Morvern Forrest	4.01	77
Electorate: 9,263   Valid: 1,918   Spoilt: 20   Quota: 960   Turnout: (20.9%) 1,938

Buckie By-election (26 March 2015) - 1 Seat[4]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	SNP	Sonya Warren	59.5%	1,485
	Independent	Norman Calder	27.9%	696
	Conservative	Tim Eagle	12.6%	315
Electorate: 7,798   Valid: 2,496   Spoilt: 25   Quota: 1,249   Turnout: 2,521 (32.3%)

Heldon and Laich By-election (1 October 2015) - 1 Seat[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3
	Independent	Dennis Slater	41.1%	1,323	1,382	1,775
	SNP	Joyce O'Hara	31.1%	1,003	1,054	1,100
	Conservative	Pete Bloomfield	21.8%	703	725
	Scottish Green	James Edward Mackessack-Leitch	6%	192
Electorate: 11,070   Valid: 3,221   Spoilt: 27   Quota: 1,612   Turnout: 3,248 (29.3%)

References

1. http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file85052.pdf
2. http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file91297.pdf
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file98529.pdf
5. http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_97135.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20120501201517/http://moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_76775.html

External links