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 3
Seats won 10 10 3
Seat change Increase1 Decrease2 Steady0
  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 Increase1
Results by ward.
Council Leader before election

Gordon McDonald
Independent

 Council Leader after election

Allan Wright
Conservative

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.

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 to 2012.

Election summary

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 New
  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
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123
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
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    12345
    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
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1234
      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
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        1234
        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
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          123456
          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
            PartyCandidateFPv%Count
            12345
            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
              PartyCandidateFPv%Count
              12
              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
                PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                12345678910
                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. Archived 11 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
                  • †† 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]
                  PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                  12345
                  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]
                    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                    123
                    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]
                      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                      12345
                      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]
                        PartyCandidateFPv%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]
                          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
                          123
                          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. ↑ Palmer, Mark. "Local Government By- Election – Thursday 7 March 2013 – Electoral Ward No. 5 – Heldon and Laich" (PDF). moray.gov.uk.
                            2. ↑ Palmer, Mark (30 January 2014). "Local Government By-Election Ward 3 – Buckie" (PDF). moray.gov.uk.
                            3. ↑ "SNP gain seat in Elgin by-election". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
                            4. ↑ Palmer, Mark (26 March 2015). "Local Government By-Election Ward 3 – Buckie" (PDF). moray.gov.uk.
                            5. ↑ "Local Government By-Election Ward 5 Heldon and Laich 2015 – Moray Council". moray.gov.uk. 28 November 2013.
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