2022 Aberdeenshire Council election

2022 Aberdeenshire Council election

←  2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 70 seats to Aberdeenshire Council 36 seats needed for a majority
Registered	204,559
Turnout	44.7%
First party Second party   Leader Mark Findlater Gwyneth Petrie Party Conservative SNP Leader's seat Troup Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford Last election 23 seats, 40.1% 21 seats, 28.2% Seats before 18 16 Seats won 26 [note 1] 21 Seat change 3 Popular vote 30,586 [note 1] 27,826 Percentage 33.9% 30.8% Swing 6.2% 2.6%   Third party Fourth party   LD Ind Leader Peter Argyll N/A Party Liberal Democrats Independent Leader's seat Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside (defeated) N/A Last election 14 seats, 14.4% 10 seats, 10.9% Seats before 13 18 Seats won 14 9 Seat change 1 Popular vote 13,269 11,967 Percentage 14.7% 13.3% Swing 0.3% 2.4%
2022 Aberdeenshire Council Election Results Map.
Leader before election Andy Kille (Conservatives) No overall control Leader after election Mark Findlater (Conservatives) No overall control

Elections to Aberdeenshire Council took place on Thursday 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the second consecutive election, the Conservatives were returned as the largest party on the council, however they fell short of an overall majority despite gaining three seats on a reduced vote share. The Scottish National Party (SNP) remained the second largest party with 21 seats on an increased vote share from 2017. The Liberal Democrats also recorded no change in councillors, returning 14, on a slightly higher vote share than in 2017. Labour and the Greens lost their only seats on the council and the number of independent councillors returned decreased by one despite the number of votes being cast for these candidates increasing slightly.

The incumbent Conservative-Liberal Democrat-independent administration retained control of the council with Cllr Mark Findlater taking over from the retiring Andy Kille as leader of the council.

Background

Previous election

Main article: 2017 Aberdeenshire Council election

At the previous election in 2017, the Conservatives were returned as the largest party for the first time. The Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) had won every previous election in Aberdeenshire following the local government reforms in the 1990s. ^[2] The Conservatives gained nine seats to hold 23 and leapfrog the SNP who lost seven seats, returning 21 councillors. The Liberal Democrats remained the third-largest party as they gained two seats to hold 14 while the number of independents fell by one to 10. Labour lost one seat to return one councillor and the Greens held their only seat. ^{[3] [4]}

2017 Aberdeenshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Vote share
	Conservatives	23	40.1%
	SNP	21	28.2%
	Liberal Democrats	14	14.4%
	Independent	10	10.9%
	Labour	1	4.4%
	Green	1	1.9%

Source: ^{[3] [4]}

Electoral system

The election used the 19 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 70 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference. ^[5]

Composition

Since the previous election, several changes in the composition of the council occurred. Most were changes to the political affiliation of councillors including Conservative councillors Colin Pike, Jim Gifford, Lesley Berry, Jeff Hutchison, Mike Roy and Dianne Beagrie; SNP councillor Geva Blackett and Labour councillor Alison Evison, who resigned from their respective parties to become independents. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} Conservative councillors Sebastian Leslie and Robbie Withey were suspended from the party over unpaid council tax and assault allegations, respectively. ^{[12] [1]}

Conservative councillor Sandy Wallace, who resigned from the party and initially became an independent, defected to the Libertarian Party. ^{[13] [14]} Independent councillor Iain Sutherland joined the Conservatives ^[15] and SNP councillors Alastair Bews and Leigh Wilson resigned from the party and initially became independents before defecting to the Alba Party. ^[16] SNP councillor Brian Topping also defected to the Alba Party. ^[17]

Four by-elections were held. The first was in Inverurie and District in October 2017 and resulted in a Conservative hold. ^[18] This was followed by an SNP hold in Ellon and District in October 2020. ^[19] The Conservatives gained a seat from the Lib Dems in East Garioch in June 2021. ^[20] Finally, the Conservatives gained a second seat, this time from the SNP, in Mid-Formartine in August 2021. ^[21]

Composition of Aberdeenshire Council

	Party	2017 result	Dissolution
	Conservative	23	18
	SNP	21	16
	Liberal Democrats	14	13
	Independents	10	18 [note 2]
	Labour	1	0
	Green	1	1
	Alba	N/A	3
	Libertarian	0	1

Retiring councillors

Retiring councilors

Ward	Party		Retiring councillor
Troup		Independent	Hamish Partridge
Fraserburgh and District		SNP	Charles Buchan
		Conservative	Andy Kille
Central Buchan		Conservative	Marion Buchan
		SNP	Jim Ingram
Peterhead North and Rattray		SNP	Anne Allan
Peterhead South and Cruden		Independent	Stephen Calder
		Conservative	Alan Fakley
Turriff and District		Independent	Sandy Duncan
West Garioch		SNP	Victoria Harper
Inverurie and District		Independent	Lesley Berry
East Garioch		Green	Martin Ford
Westhill and District		Conservative	Alistair McKelvie
Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford		Conservative	Moira Ingleby
		Liberal Democrats	John Latham
Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside		Conservative	Paul Gibb
Banchory and Mid-Deeside		Liberal Democrats	Rosemary Bruce
North Kincardine		Liberal Democrats	Ian Mollison
Stonehaven and Lower Deeside		Libertarian	Sandy Wallace
Mearns		Liberal Democrats	Bill Howatson

Source: ^{[4] [22]}

Candidates

The total number of candidates increased from 116 in 2017 to 135. Unlike the previous election, the SNP did not field the highest number of candidates. After their success in the 2017 election, the Conservatives fielded a total of 33 candidates – 10 more than the previous election – while the number of SNP candidates fell from 34 to 26. Both parties, along with the Liberal Democrats, contested every ward. The number of independent candidates increased by three to 22 while the Lib Dems fielded one candidate in each of the 19 wards – the same as they did five years previous. Labour only contested 11 wards, three fewer than 2017 while the number of Green candidates increased from five to 10. For the first time, the Alba Party (seven), the Scottish Family Party (five) and the Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) (one) fielded candidates in an Aberdeenshire election. The Libertarians again put forward one candidate however the Social Democratic Party (SDP) did not contest the election as they had done in 2017. ^{[4] [22]}

Results

2022 Aberdeenshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	26 [note 1]	3	0	3	37.1	33.9	30,586 [note 1]	6.2
	SNP	21	2	2		30.0	30.8	27,826	2.6
	Liberal Democrats	14	2	2		20.0	14.7	13,269	0.3
	Independent	9	3	4	1	12.8	13.3	11,967	2.4
	Labour	0	0	1	1	0.0	4.1	3,717	0.3
	Scottish Green	0	0	1	1	0.0	2.0	1,815	0.1
	Alba	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	464	New
	Scottish Family	0	0	0		0.0	0.6	419	New
	ISP	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	36	New
	Libertarian	0	0	0		0.0	0.0	34	0.0
Total		70						90,133

Source: ^[23]

Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils. ^{[24] [25]}

Ward summary

Results of the 2022 Aberdeenshire Council election by ward

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	Con		SNP		Lib Dem		Ind		Others
Banff and District	27.8	1	31.9	1	3.8	0	27.0	1	9.4	0	3
Troup	50.2	2	37.3	1	8.5	0			4.1	0	3
Fraserburgh and District	32.4	1	20.0	1	4.8	1	36.0	1	6.7	0	4
Central Buchan	33.3	1	31.1	2	13.0	1	11.3	0	11.3	0	4
Peterhead North and Rattray	26.7	1	29.1	1	3.7	0	38.1	2	2.4	0	4
Peterhead South and Cruden	41.3	1	46.5	1	12.2	1					3
Turriff and District	39.1	2	33.9	1	23.5	1			3.5	0	4
Mid-Formartine	33.3	1	33.7	1	14.9	1	18.2	1			4
Ellon and District	35.6	2	31.7	1	22.0	1			10.7	0	4
West Garioch	27.1	1	29.4	1	12.7	1	17.0	0	13.6	0	3
Inverurie and District	25.7	1	31.1	1	17.0	1	22.5	1	3.8	0	4
East Garioch	27.4	1	41.0	1	9.4	1	14.5	1	7.7	0	4
Westhill and District	39.6	2	25.1	1	26.3	1			9.0	0	4
Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford	40.4	2	34.5	1	13.9	1	2.7	0	8.4	0	4
Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside	34.5	1	21.7	1	17.5	0	22.7	1	3.7	0	3
Banchory and Mid-Deeside	42.7	1	24.0	1	21.5	1			11.8	0	3
North Kincardine	26.9	1	36.2	2	15.5	1	14.3	0	7.1	0	4
Stonehaven and Lower Deeside	32.0	2	27.0	1	22.7	1	8.3	0	10.0	0	4
Mearns	31.8	2	29.0	1	6.5	0	21.0	1	11.8	0	4
Total	33.9	26	30.8	21	14.7	14	13.3	9	7.5	0	70

Source: ^[23]

Seats changing hands

Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

Seats changing hands

Seat	2017			2022
	Party		Member	Party		Member
Troup		Independent	Hamish Partridge		Conservative	Richard Menard
Fraserburgh and District		SNP	Brian Topping [Note 1]		Liberal Democrats	Ann Bell
Central Buchan		Independent	Norman Smith		SNP	Geoff Crowson
Peterhead South and Cruden		Independent	Stephen Calder		Liberal Democrats	Colin Alexander Simpson
Turriff and District		Independent	Sandy Duncan		Conservative	Gordon Lang
Ellon and District		SNP	Anouk Kloppert [Note 2]		Conservative	John Crawley
East Garioch		Green	Martin Ford		Independent	Jim Gifford
Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside		Liberal Democrats	Peter Argyle		Independent	Geva Blackett [Note 3]
North Kincardine		Labour	Alison Evison [Note 4]		SNP	Catherine Mary Victor
Mearns		Liberal Democrats	Bill Howatson		Independent	Alison Evison

Notes

1. ^
   Note 1: In 2017, Brian Topping was elected as an SNP candidate but later defected to Alba. ^[16]
2. ^
   Note 2: Cllr Kloppert successfully stood for election in Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside. ^[23]
3. ^
   Note 3: In 2017, Geva Blackett was elected as an SNP candidate but later resigned from the party. ^[9] The SNP held their seat in Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside at the 2022 election.
4. ^
   Note 4: In 2017, Cllr Evison was elected as a Labour candidate but later resigned from the party. ^[10] She successfully stood for election in Mearns. ^[23]

Ward results

Banff and District

The SNP, Conservatives and independent candidate John Cox retained the seats they won at the previous election.

Banff and District − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Glen Reynolds (incumbent)	31.9	1,265
	Conservative	Stewart Adams	27.8	1,103
	Independent	John Cox (incumbent)	19.8	787	834	862	892	921	950	1,023
	Independent	Mike Roy (incumbent)	7.2	285	299	318	326	368	401	487
	Labour	James Low	5.0	200	224	234	238	294	365
	Liberal Democrats	Sandy Leslie	3.8	150	167	181	199
	Scottish Green	Neil Woodward	2.6	105	182	185	214	239
	Alba	Iain Cameron	1.8	73	106	108
Electorate: 9,185  Valid: 3,968  Spoilt: 34  Quota: 993  Turnout: 43.6%

Source: ^{[26] [27]}

Troup

The SNP retained the seat they won at the previous election while the Conservatives held their seat and gained one from retiring independent councillor Hamish Partridge.

Troup − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Mark Findlater (incumbent)	42.5	1,305
	SNP	Ross Cassie (incumbent)	37.3	1,144
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Bailey	8.5	260	299	378	546
	Conservative	Richard Menard	7.7	236	647	675	697	894
	Scottish Green	Simon Scott	4.1	125	135	300
Electorate: 7,641  Valid: 3,070  Spoilt: 54  Quota: 768  Turnout: 40.9%

Source: ^{[28] [29]}

Fraserburgh and District

The Conservatives and independent candidate Doreen Mair retained the seats they won at the previous election while the SNP held one of their two seats and the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from the SNP. In 2017, Brian Topping was elected as an SNP candidate before defecting to the Alba Party.

Fraserburgh and District − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	James Adams	32.4	1,526
	Independent	Doreen Mair (incumbent)	32.1	1,509
	SNP	Seamus Logan	20.0	941
	Alba	Brian Topping (incumbent)	5.8	274	312	385	396
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Bell	4.8	228	402	557	574	650	883
	Independent	Paul Greenall	3.9	182	269	423	444	553
	Scottish Family	John McColl	0.9	43	76	94
Electorate: 11,604  Valid: 4,703  Spoilt: 40  Quota: 941  Turnout: 40.9%

Source: ^{[30] [31]}

Central Buchan

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP held their only seat and gained one from independent candidate Norman Smith.

Central Buchan − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Conservative	Hannah Powell	18.7	871	883	885	889	902	1,020
	SNP	David Mair	16.0	744	750	774	797	812	862	864	866	901
	SNP	Geoff Crowson	15.1	705	710	740	788	810	843	844	845	881
	Conservative	Steve Owen	14.6	679	690	693	697	714	759	831	834
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Simpson (incumbent)	13.0	607	613	617	641	715	946
	Independent	Norman Smith (incumbent)	11.3	527	535	551	561	597
	Labour	Arif Mahmood	4.6	213	215	223	239
	Scottish Green	Jamie Cole-Hamilton	2.9	135	138	145
	Alba	Charlotte Diana Cross	2.4	111	117
	Scottish Family	Joanna Moore	1.4	65
Electorate: 11,170  Valid: 4,657  Spoilt: 85  Quota: 932  Turnout: 42.5%

Source: ^{[32] [33]}

Peterhead North and Rattray

The SNP and independent candidate Alan S. Buchan retained the seats they had won at the previous election. In 2017, independent candidate Dianne Beagrie was elected as a Conservative candidate and Conservative candidate Iain Sutherland was elected as an independent candidate. Cllr Beagrie retained her seat as an independent and the Conservatives retained their seat although Iain Sutherland was not re-elected.

Peterhead North and Rattray − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Leanne McWhinnie	29.1	1,222
	Independent	Dianne Beagrie (incumbent)	23.2	974
	Conservative	Matthew James	14.3	599	610	626	633	637	665	1,125
	Independent	Alan S. Buchan (incumbent)	13.0	548	605	631	679	741	823	877
	Conservative	Iain Sutherland (incumbent)	12.5	523	536	554	563	571	589
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Robert Anderson	3.7	156	202	208	225	258
	Alba	Trish McPherson	2.4	99	189	194	215
	Independent	Sharon Bradford	1.9	79	116	141
Electorate: 11,821  Valid: 4,200  Spoilt: 68  Quota: 841  Turnout: 36.1%

Source: ^{[34] [35]}

Peterhead South and Cruden

The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from retiring independent councillor Stephen Calder.

Peterhead South and Cruden − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Stephen William Smith (incumbent)	46.5	1,578
	Conservative	George Hall [note 3]	32.5	1,105
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Alexander Simpson	12.2	414	783	796	1,110
	Conservative	Neil Johnstone	8.8	298	371	595
Electorate: 9,135  Valid: 3,395  Spoilt: 59  Quota: 849  Turnout: 37.8%

Source: ^{[37] [38]}

Turriff and District

The SNP and Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives retained one seat and gained one from retiring independent councillor Sandy Duncan.

Turriff and District − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Iain Walker Taylor (incumbent)	23.8	1,075
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Stirling(incumbent) [note 4]	23.5	1,059
	SNP	Alastair Forsyth (incumbent)	17.5	792	798	825	869	1,624
	SNP	Susan Dubois	16.4	740	741	751	823
	Conservative	Gordon Lang	15.3	690	839	881	895	904
	Scottish Green	Kathryn Louise Vincent	3.5	159	161	186
Electorate: 10,429  Valid: 4,515  Spoilt: 105  Quota: 904  Turnout: 44.3%

Source: ^{[39] [40]}

Mid-Formartine

The SNP, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Paul Johnston retained the seats they won at the previous election.

Mid-Formartine − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Jenny Nicol	19.2	971	1,597
	Independent	Paul Johnston (incumbent)	18.2	916	959	1,131
	Conservative	Derek Ritchie	17.4	876	879	897	910	1,648
	Conservative	Sheila Powell (incumbent)	15.9	803	809	827	837
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Hassan (incumbent)	14.9	752	782	934	1,000	1,048
	SNP	Kenny Hutchison	14.4	728
Electorate: 11,612  Valid: 5,046  Spoilt: 85  Quota: 1,010  Turnout: 44.2%

Source: ^{[41] [42]}

Ellon and District

The Liberal Democrats retained the seat they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives held one and gained one from the SNP and the SNP retained one of their two seats.

Ellon and District − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Liberal Democrats	Isobel Davidson (incumbent)	22.0	1,205
	SNP	Louise McAllister (incumbent)	20.8	1,139
	Conservative	John Crawley	19.1	1,050	1,063	1,064	1,070	1,140
	Conservative	Gillian Owen (incumbent)	16.5	906	935	936	946	993	1,028	1,202
	SNP	Josh Gall	10.9	599	612	645	772	871	873
	Labour	Mark Lappin	6.3	348	370	371	444
	Scottish Green	Craig William Stewart	4.4	241	255	258
Electorate: 11,837  Valid: 5,488  Spoilt: 76  Quota: 1,098  Turnout: 47.0%

Source: ^{[43] [44]}

West Garioch

The SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

West Garioch − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Moray Grant	29.4	1,247
	Conservative	Sam Payne	27.1	1,150
	Liberal Democrats	Hazel Smith (incumbent)	12.7	539	561	588	598	683	736	956	1,318
	Independent	Sheena Lonchay	10.6	451	468	480	493	536	696	773
	Labour	Sasha Brydon	7.6	324	348	357	365	425	451
	Independent	Sebastian Leslie (incumbent) [note 5]	6.4	273	282	299	306	326
	Scottish Green	Anne Mansfield	4.3	182	251	253	279
	Alba	Elaine Mitchell	1.7	71	88	89
Electorate: 9,227  Valid: 4,237  Spoilt: 44  Quota: 1,060  Turnout: 46.4%

Source: ^{[46] [47]}

Inverurie and District

The SNP, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Judy Margaret Whyte retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Inverurie and District − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	David Keating [note 6]	25.7	1,276
	SNP	Neil Baillie (incumbent)	24.1	1,200
	Independent	Judy Margaret Whyte (incumbent)	22.5	1,120
	Liberal Democrats	Marion Ewenson (incumbent)	17.0	843	1,003
	SNP	Archie Peebles	6.9	343	348
	Scottish Green	Denise May Rothnie	3.8	187	195
Electorate: 12,128  Valid: 4,969  Spoilt: 83  Quota: 994  Turnout: 41.7%

Source: ^{[48] [49]}

East Garioch

The SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Jim Gifford gained a seat from the Greens. In 2017, Cllr Gifford was elected as a Conservative candidate in Mid-Formartine.

East Garioch − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Glen Reid (incumbent)	41.0	1,727
	Conservative	Dominic Lonchay (incumbent)	27.4	1,156
	Liberal Democrats	Trevor Booth Mason	9.4	398	564	649	720	1,041
	Labour	Rosanna Dobbin	7.7	323	496	538	595
	Independent	Jim Gifford [note 7]	7.6	321	441	502	763	871
	Independent	Drew Cullinane	6.9	290	438	476
Electorate: 10,414  Valid: 4,215  Spoilt: 24  Quota: 844  Turnout: 40.7%

Source: ^{[50] [51]}

Westhill and District

The Conservatives (2), the SNP (1) and the Liberal Democrats (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Westhill and District − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Conservative	Ron McKail (incumbent)	29.0	1,655
	Liberal Democrats	Iris Margaret Walker (incumbent)	26.3	1,498
	SNP	Fatima Joji	25.1	1,430
	Conservative	Craig Miller	10.6	605	1,050	1,135	1,144
	Labour	Lesley Young	7.6	434	455	604	705
	Alba	Colin MacKay	0.8	48	53	61	101
	ISP	Stephen Cameron	0.6	36	38	47	105
Electorate: 12,033  Valid: 5,706  Spoilt: 58  Quota: 1,142  Turnout: 47.9%

Source: ^{[52] [53]}

Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford

The Conservatives (2), the SNP (1) and the Liberal Democrats (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Gwyneth Petrie (incumbent)	34.5	1,945
	Conservative	Lauren Knight	26.5	1,491
	Conservative	Robbie Withey (incumbent) [note 8]	14.0	788	820	1,047	1,055	1,092	1,094	1,277
	Liberal Democrats	Jeff Goodhall	13.9	784	976	1,021	1,033	1,143
	Labour	Bryan Scott Begg	7.8	441	630	651	655	728	735
	Independent	Rosie Leagas	2.7	152	264	276	298
	Libertarian	Stuart Whitby	0.6	34	58	62
Electorate: 12,148  Valid: 5,635  Spoilt: 79  Quota: 1,128  Turnout: 47.0%

Source: ^{[54] [55]}

Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside

The Conservatives and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election. In 2017, Geva Blackett was elected as an SNP candidate but subsequently resigned from the party. She retained her seat as an independent candidate while the Liberal Democrats lost their seat.

Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Geva Blackett (incumbent) [note 9]	22.7	1,098	1,127	1,173	1,272
	SNP	Anouk Kloppert [note 10]	21.7	1,049	1,091	1,098	1,104	1,118	1,459
	Conservative	Sarah Brown	21.3	1,029	1,040	1,571
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Argyle (incumbent)	17.5	846	908	950	1,064	1,091
	Conservative	Claudia Leith	13.2	640	653
	Labour	John Lawson	3.7	179
Electorate: 9,066  Valid: 4,841  Spoilt: 40  Quota: 1,211  Turnout: 53.8%

Source: ^{[57] [58]}

Banchory and Mid-Deeside

The Conservatives, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they won at the previous election.

Banchory and Mid-Deeside − 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Conservative	Ann Ross (incumbent) [note 11]	25.1	1,211
	SNP	Eileen Durno (incumbent)	24.0	1,158	1,158	1,161	1,264
	Liberal Democrats	Yi-Pei Chou Turvey	21.5	1,040	1,040	1,049	1,340
	Conservative	Harriet Cross	17.6	852	854	867	924
	Labour	Andy Brown	11.1	536	536	542
	Scottish Family	Graeme Craib	0.7	35	35
Electorate: 9,105  Valid: 4,832  Spoilt: 38  Quota: 1,209  Turnout: 53.5%

Source: ^{[60] [61]}

North Kincardine

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP retained their seat and gained one from Labour. In 2017, independent candidates Colin Pike and Alastair Bews were elected as Conservative and SNP councillors respectively before resigning from their parties. Neither was re-elected.

North Kincardine − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	David Aitchison [note 12]	21.6	1,182
	Conservative	Shirley Burnett	15.6	855	856	863	898	906	1,457
	Liberal Democrats	Mel Sullivan	15.5	850	852	864	896	993	1,016	1,126
	SNP	Catherine Mary Victor [note 13]	14.6	799	865	870	903	1,052	1,053	1,059	1,064	1,214
	Conservative	Jeff Hutchison [note 14]	11.3	620	621	626	633	637
	Independent	Colin Pike (incumbent)	9.6	527	528	534	649	684	718	804	815
	Scottish Green	Louise Claire Ross	5.7	314	319	335	348
	Independent	Alastair Bews (incumbent)	4.7	255	259	269
	Scottish Family	Elizabeth Wilson Leslie	1.4	75	76
Electorate: 12,478  Valid: 5,477  Spoilt: 80  Quota: 1,096  Turnout: 44.5%

Source: ^{[63] [64]}

Stonehaven and Lower Deeside

The Conservatives (2), the SNP (1) and the Liberal Democrats (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Stonehaven and Lower Deeside − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Dickinson (incumbent)	22.7	1,263
	Conservative	Wendy Agnew (incumbent)	20.6	1,147
	SNP	Dawn Black	17.1	951	968	969	1,024	1,104	1,215
	Conservative	Alan Turner	11.3	630	652	677	681	721	852	854	1,018
	SNP	Dennis Robertson (incumbent)	9.9	550	564	564	601	644	721	808
	Independent	Ma Simpson	8.3	462	489	491	518	631
	Labour	Raymond James Christie	6.9	383	412	415	453
	Scottish Green	Rachel Katherine Shanks	3.1	173	192	192
Electorate: 11,356  Valid: 5,559  Spoilt: 86  Quota: 1,112  Turnout: 49.7%

Source: ^{[65] [66]}

Mearns

The Conservatives (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Alison Elizabeth McBean Evison gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats. Cllr Evison was previously a councillor for North Kincardine. In 2017, Alba Party candidate Leigh Wilson was elected as an SNP candidate. He was not re-elected.

Mearns − 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Kevin Stelfox	29.0	1,677
	Conservative	George Carr (incumbent)	21.0	1,217
	Independent	Alison Elizabeth McBean Evison [note 15]	10.8	623	663	667	674	699	730	792	894	1,111	1,349
	Conservative	Laurie Carnie	10.7	619	625	668	681	689	695	724	741	825	924
	Independent	Dave Stewart	8.9	513	546	550	558	573	592	622	672
	Liberal Democrats	Shona Ewen	6.5	377	413	415	418	422	430	561	680	789
	Labour	Yvonne Allan	5.8	336	392	393	396	399	412
	Scottish Green	Douglas Fraser	3.4	194	375	376	380	398	447	506
	Alba	Leigh Wilson (incumbent)	1.7	99	171	171	179	186
	Independent	David Allan Neill	1.3	75	86	86	87
	Scottish Family	Diane Elizabeth Laurenson	0.9	52	56	56
Electorate: 12,170  Valid: 5,782  Spoilt: 57  Quota: 1,157  Turnout: 47.7%

Source: ^{[67] [68]}

Aftermath

On 18 May 2022, a coalition deal was announced between the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and seven aligned independents to form the council administration. ^[69] The following day, as part of the deal, Cllr Mark Findlater, Conservative councillor for the Troup ward, was appointed council leader with Cllr Anne Stirling from the Liberal Democrats becoming depute leader and Independent councillor Judy Whyte was elected Provost. ^[70]

In 2023, Peterhead South and Cruden councillor George Hall left the Conservatives to sit as an independent. ^[36]

The opposition SNP group suspended Cllr Catherine Victor in February 2024 for sharing an anti-Semitic post on social media. ^[62]

During the council's budget meeting in February 2024, Conservative councillor Ann Ross quit the party to sit as an independent in protest at the proposed budget which would be "detrimental" to her ward. ^[59]

Notes

1. The Conservatives totals include Cllr Robbie Withey who was suspended from the party in April 2022 but appeared on the ballot as a Conservative candidate as this came after the close of nominations. ^[1]
2. Includes 10 aligned independents, one member of the Democratic Independent and Green Group, five independents and two unaligned independents.
3. In 2023, Cllr Hall left the Conservatives to sit as an independent. ^[36]
4. Elected in 2017 as Anne Robertson.
5. In 2018, West Garioch Conservative councillor Sebastian Leslie was suspended from the party over council tax arrears. ^[45]
6. Sitting councillor for East Garioch.
7. Sitting councillor for Mid-Formartine.
8. Councillor Robbie Withey was suspended from the Conservative Party in April 2022 after it was alleged he grabbed a man by the throat. As this was after the close of nomination of candidates for the election in May, he still appeared on the ballot as a Conservative candidate. ^[1]
9. In August 2021, Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside SNP councillor Geva Blackett resigned from the party. ^[56]
10. Sitting councillor for Ellon and District.
11. In 2024, Cllr Ross quit the Conservatives to sit as an independent. ^[59]
12. Sitting councillor for West Hill and District.
13. In 2024, Cllr Victor was suspended by the SNP. ^[62]
14. Sitting councillor for Mearns.
15. Sitting councillor for North Kincardine.

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