Moray Council (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: ''Comhairle Mhoireibh'') is the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

authority for Moray council area.

History

Moray District Council

Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

, 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 Grampian () was one of nine local government regions of Scotland. It was created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and took its name from the Grampian Mountains. The regional council was based in Aberdeen. The region was abol ...

region. Under that system, the authority was named Moray District Council. Moray District covered the same area as the modern-day unitary authority.

Moray Council

Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

, which abolished the regions and districts created in 1975 and established 32 single-tier

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

s across Scotland, one being Moray.

Political control

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: Moray District Council Moray Council

Leadership

Since 2012, political leadership has been provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The leaders since then have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes up to November 2024, the composition of the council was: One of the independent councillors describes themselves as a "non-aligned Conservative". The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

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 The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

system, introduced by the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local government in Scotland, local authorities in Scotland by the single transfera ...

, replacing the

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

won 11 seats therefore overtaking the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

, 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:

Premises

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 Elgin Sheriff Court is a courthouse in the High Street, Elgin, Moray, Scotland. The structure is a Category B listed building. History The first judicial building in the town was a 16th century timber-framed tolbooth in the middle of the High S ...

for the former joint Moray and Nairn County Council. 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.

Wards

The current multi-member ward system (8 wards, 26 seats) was introduced for the 2007 election:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moray Council Local authorities of Scotland Politics of Moray Organisations based in Moray Elgin, Moray