2022 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]

Source:^[3][4]

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]

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]

Source:^[4][22]

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]

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

Source:^[26][27]

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.

Source:^[28][29]

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.

Source:^[30][31]

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.

Source:^[32][33]

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.

Source:^[34][35]

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.

Source:^[37][38]

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.

Source:^[39][40]

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

Source:^[41][42]

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.

Source:^[43][44]

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

Source:^[46][47]

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

Source:^[48][49]

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.

Source:^[50][51]

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

Source:^[52][53]

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

Source:^[54][55]

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.

Source:^[56][57]

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

Source:^[59][60]

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.

Source:^[62][63]

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

Source:^[64][65]

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.

Source:^[66][67]