Elections to Aberdeen City Council took place on 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 Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party on the council, increasing their number by one to 20 councillors out of 45. Labour – standing under the Aberdeen Labour moniker – regained some of the ground it had lost at the previous election to overtake the Conservatives for second place with 11 councillors (up two), while the Conservatives lost three seats to return eight councillors. The number of Liberal Democrats (four) and independent candidates (two) elected was unchanged, though there had been four independent councillors immediately prior to the election due to a suspension and a resignation.
Following the election, a coalition between the SNP and Liberal Democrats was formed to run the council, taking over from the incumbent Aberdeen Labour administration; this group had been in control of the council following a deal with the Conservatives in 2017 that was not sanctioned by the party hierarchy and resulted in the group being suspended from Labour. Alex Nicoll, SNP group leader, and Ian Yuill, Liberal Democrat group leader, were elected as co-leaders of the council.
At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats on the council for the first time. The SNP gained four seats to hold 19, four shy of an overall majority, while Labour lost eight seats, which left them with nine as they fell from the largest party to third place. The Conservatives gained eight seats to record their best result in Aberdeen since 1980 with 11 seats, while the Liberal Democrats lost one seat to hold four. Two independent councillors were also elected.[1][2]
A coalition was formed after the 2017 election between Labour, the Conservatives and independent councillors to run the council.[3] This resulted in the suspension of the nine Labour councillors from the national party as its executive had not approved the coalition. The suspended Labour councillors then sat as the "Aberdeen Labour" group on the council.[4][5] The Labour Party eventually agreed to re-admit the Aberdeen Labour group in 2021, allowing them to stand as official Labour candidates in the 2022 election.[6] In February 2022, the UK Labour Party registered "Aberdeen Labour" as an official alternative description that its candidates could use on the ballot papers.[7]
Following the 2017 election, there were two changes in the political composition of the council. Conservative councillor Alan Donnelly was suspended from the party and subsequently resigned after he was convicted of sexual assault,[9] and Liberal Democrat councillor Jennifer Stewart resigned from the party to become an independent.[10] Following the coalition agreement between Labour and the Conservatives, the nine Labour councillors were suspended and sat as Aberdeen Labour.[4]
Three by-elections were held for four seats. These resulted in an SNP/Conservative hold[11] and two SNP holds.[12][13]
The total number of candidates fell from 101 in 2017 to 99. As was the case five years previous, the SNP fielded the highest number of candidates at 23 (two less than in 2017) across the 13 wards. The Conservatives overtook Labour by fielding 17 candidates – three more than five years previous. Labour, which had put forward 20 candidates in 2017, stood 15 candidates, all of whom used the "Aberdeen Labour" description. The 13 candidates fielded by the Liberal Democrats were one less than in 2017. For the first time in an Aberdeen City election, the Greens contested every ward by fielding 13 candidates – almost double the number they had put forward in 2017. The number of independent candidates fell from 13 to six, while two Libertarian candidates contested the election – an increase of one. Contesting elections in Aberdeen City for the first time were the Alba Party (four candidates), the Scottish Family Party (five) and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) (one). Unlike the 2017 election, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the National Front and Solidarity did not put forward any candidates.[2][14]
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.[16][17]
Ward summary
2022 Aberdeen City Council election results by ward
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.
The Liberal Democrats retained one of their two seats and lost one to independent candidate Jennifer Stewart, while the Conservatives and the SNP retained the seats they won at the previous election. Cllr Stewart was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor in 2017 but subsequently left her party to join the minority Conservative–Aberdeen Labour administration.
On 18 May, a partnership was formed between the SNP group and the four Liberal Democrat councillors.[45] David Cameron was made Provost, defeating Labour's Lynn Thomson by 25 votes to 9.[46] The SNP's Alex Nicoll and the Liberal Democrats' Ian Yuill were named co-leaders of the council.[47]
Barney Crockett, elected as a Labour councillor, left the party in June 2023 to sit as an independent.[18]
Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone by-election
Conservative councillor Avril MacKenzie died on 1 December 2022.[48] A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 23 February 2023 and was won by Labour's Graeme Lawrence.[49]
