Moray
Scottish council · Scotland · 26 seats in 8 wards · All seats elected every five years · Next election 6 May 2027
The Conservatives run Moray Council as a minority administration. The council has 26 councillors in 8 wards. Seats by party: Conservative 10, SNP 7, Other 4, Labour 3, Green 2. The next election is on 6 May 2027.
Seats by party
Who holds each ward
Coloured by the party holding most of the ward's seats today; where seats are split evenly, by the party with the higher share at the last election.
Councillors and last results
Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.
| Ward and councillors | Last election |
|---|---|
| Buckie Sonya Warren, Neil McLennan, John Stuart | 5 May 2022 Uncontested |
| Elgin City North Amber Dunbar, Jérémie Fernandes, Sandy Keith | 5 May 2022 SNP 32.6% lead 4.1 pts |
| Elgin City South Elaine Kirby, John Divers, Peter Bloomfield | 5 May 2022 SNP 35.5% lead 7.4 pts |
| Fochabers Lhanbryde Ben Williams, Marc Macrae, Shona Morrison | 5 May 2022 SNP 43.0% lead 3.2 pts |
| Forres Kathleen Robertson, Scott Lawrence, Draeyk van der Horn, Paul McBain | 5 May 2022 Conservative 40.9% lead 6.6 pts |
| Heldon and Laich John Cowe, James Allan, Bridget Mustard, Neil Cameron | 5 May 2022 Conservative 39.7% lead 10.2 pts |
| Keith and Cullen Tracy Colyer, Theresa Coull, Donald Gatt | 5 May 2022 Conservative 43.7% lead 0.2 pts |
| Speyside Glenlivet Juli Harris, Derek Ross, David Gordon | 5 May 2022 SNP 36.8% lead 3.0 pts |
Buckie
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
Uncontested. Elected: Christopher Thomas Price (Lib Dem), Neil Mclennan (Conservative), Sonya Warren (SNP).
Last by-election, 3 November 2022
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Stuart Elected | SNP | 1,172 | 48.9% |
| Tim Eagle | Conservative | 879 | 36.7% |
| Keighly Goudie | Labour | 239 | 10.0% |
| Leslie Tarr | Lib Dem | 67 | 2.8% |
| Neil Houlden | Independent | 38 | 1.6% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Elgin City North
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jérémie Fernandes Elected | SNP | 1,199 | 32.6% |
| Sandy Keith Elected | Labour | 1,048 | 28.5% |
| Amber Dunbar Elected | Conservative | 952 | 25.9% |
| Graham Jarvis | Independent | 170 | 4.6% |
| Rebecca Jane Kail | Scottish Green | 165 | 4.5% |
| Neil Alexander | Lib Dem | 144 | 3.9% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Elgin City South
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Leadbitter Elected | SNP | 1,444 | 35.5% |
| John Divers Elected | Labour | 1,142 | 28.1% |
| Peter Bloomfield Elected | Conservative | 1,090 | 26.8% |
| Michaela French | Independent | 161 | 4.0% |
| Bernard Matthew Salmon | Lib Dem | 124 | 3.1% |
| Paul Briggs | Independent | 101 | 2.5% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Last by-election, 7 November 2024
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Mitchell | SNP | 849 | 32.2% |
| Elaine Kirby Elected | Conservative | 834 | 31.6% |
| Catriona McBain | Labour | 487 | 18.5% |
| Neil Alexander | Lib Dem | 466 | 17.7% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Fochabers Lhanbryde
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Macrae Elected | Conservative | 1,590 | 39.8% |
| Shona Morrison Elected | SNP | 940 | 23.5% |
| Dave Bremner | SNP | 778 | 19.5% |
| Ben Williams Elected | Labour | 404 | 10.1% |
| Donald Cameron | Lib Dem | 284 | 7.1% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Forres
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Lawrence Elected | SNP | 2,077 | 34.3% |
| Kathleen Robertson Elected | Conservative | 1,516 | 25.0% |
| Paul Mcbain Elected | Conservative | 962 | 15.9% |
| James Hynam | Labour | 643 | 10.6% |
| Dræyk van der Hørn Elected | Scottish Green | 550 | 9.1% |
| Shaun Moat | Independent | 309 | 5.1% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Heldon and Laich
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Cameron Elected | SNP | 1,455 | 29.5% |
| James Allan Elected | Conservative | 1,331 | 27.0% |
| John Cowe Elected | Independent | 914 | 18.5% |
| Bridget Mustard Elected | Conservative | 629 | 12.7% |
| Andrew O'Neill | Labour | 379 | 7.7% |
| Calum Cameron | Lib Dem | 228 | 4.6% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Keith and Cullen
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theresa Ann Coull Elected | SNP | 1,493 | 43.5% |
| Donald Gatt Elected | Conservative | 849 | 24.7% |
| Tracy Colyer Elected | Conservative | 650 | 18.9% |
| Leslie Tarr | Lib Dem | 341 | 9.9% |
| William Keith Barclay | Scottish Family Party | 99 | 2.9% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Speyside Glenlivet
Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)
| Candidate | Party | First prefs | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juli Harris Elected | SNP | 1,227 | 36.8% |
| David Gordon Elected | Conservative | 1,129 | 33.8% |
| Derek Ross Elected | Independent | 672 | 20.1% |
| Elidh Myrvang Brown | Scottish Green | 286 | 8.6% |
| David McHutchon | Sovereignty | 23 | 0.7% |
Party shares are of first-preference votes.
Changed party since the election
3 councillors now sit for a different party from the one they were elected for.
| Ward | Councillor | Elected as | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckie | John Stuart | SNP 2022 | Scottish Green |
| Buckie | Neil McLennan | Conservative 2022 | Independent |
| Heldon and Laich | James Allan | Conservative 2022 | Independent |
Every council by-election since 2021
2 by-elections since July 2021, 2 of them gains.
| Date | Ward | Result | Winner's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November 2024 | Elgin City South | Conservative gain from SNP | 31.6% |
| 3 November 2022 | Buckie | SNP gain from Lib Dem |
Parliamentary constituencies
| Constituency | Share of council | 2024 winner | Projected now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey | SNP | SNP 30% |
Scottish councils: seats are listed without shares. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.
Who lives in Moray
99,154 residents in 45,685 households
GB figure. 2021 Census (Scotland: 2022): age as a share of residents aged 15 and over, qualifications of residents aged 16 and over, housing as a share of households. Leave: 2016 EU referendum, Electoral Commission results by counting area.
Councils most like this one
Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.
Sources and method
Seat totals and control: PollCheck council control tracker. Councillors: Open Council Data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Election results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), with some vote counts from DCLEAPIL, Leman (2025) (CC BY-SA 4.0), and corrections checked against councils' official declarations. Ward boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Census: Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland.
Councillor lists and DCLEAPIL-derived vote counts on this page are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scottish councils use STV: party shares are of first-preference votes. The lead is the gap between the top two parties' shares.