1999 Moray Council election

1999 Moray Council election

6 May 1999 (1999-05-06)
All 26 seats to Moray Council 14 seats needed for a majority
Registered	65,353
Turnout	56.0%
First party Second party Third party   Party Independent Labour SNP Last election 2 seats, 19.8% 3 seats, 19.7% 13 seats, 50.2% Seats won 15 6 2 Seat change 13 3 11 Popular vote 13,504 7,514 11,147 Percentage 36.9% 20.5% 30.4% Swing 17.1% 0.8% 19.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 0 seats, 8.1% 0 seats, 2.2% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 3,052 1,405 Percentage 8.3% 3.8% Swing 0.2% 1.6%
Map of ward results
Council composition following the election
Convener before election Gordon McDonald SNP Elected Convener Edward Aldridge Independent

Elections to Moray Council were held on 6 May 1999, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the second election to the unitary council following the implementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

The election used the 26 wards created by the Third Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1998. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) lost 11 of their 13 seats, including losses for SNP group leader councillor Gordon Crawford and convener of the Moray Council councillor Gordon McDonald. As a result, 14 independent and the 6 Labour councillors agreed to form a coalition, with independent councillor Edward Aldridge elected as the convener of the Moray Council.

Background

Further information: 1995 Moray Council election

The 1995 election to the Moray Council saw the SNP take 13 seats, and therefore the SNP were able to form a majority administration as the council only had 18 seats at that time.

1995 Moray Council election results

Party	Seats	Vote share
SNP	13	50.2%
Labour	3	19.7%
Independent	2	19.8%

Source:

Results

1999 Moray Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	15			13	57.7	36.9	13,504	17.1
	Labour	6			3	23.1	20.5	7,514	0.8
	SNP	2			11	7.7	30.4	11,147	19.8
	Liberal Democrats	2			2	7.7	8.3	3,052	0.2
	Conservative	1			1	3.8	3.8	1,405	1.6

Source:

Ward results

Buckie Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J Leslie	781	59.6
	SNP	G McDonald (Incumbent)	530	40.4
Majority			251	19.1
Turnout			1,311	53.7
	Labour win (new seat)

Buckie East & Findochty

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	S Longmore	507	36.4
	SNP	L McDonald	430	30.9
	Labour	D Wild	307	22.1
	Liberal Democrats	G Holm	147	10.6
Majority			77	5.5
Turnout			1,391	54.9
	Independent win (new seat)

Buckie West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W Jappy (Incumbent)	549	37.7
	SNP	K McKay	455	31.2
	Labour	J MacKay	454	31.1
Majority			94	6.4
Turnout			1,458	56.8
	Independent win (new seat)

Burghsea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	G Towns	593	38.0
	Independent	C Millar	408	26.1
	SNP	W Clark	349	22.3
	Independent	D Scaife (Incumbent)	212	13.6
Majority			185	11.8
Turnout			1,562	61.7
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Cathedral

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A Farquharson (Incumbent)	830	71.7
	SNP	M Hardie	328	28.3
Majority			502	43.4
Turnout			1,158	45.4
	Labour win (new seat)

Central West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A Bisset	1,380	85.8
	SNP	H McDonald (Incumbent)	228	14.2
Majority			1,152	71.6
Turnout			1,608	61.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Elgin-Bishopmill East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A Keith (Incumbent)	1,047	71.2
	SNP	B Ewan	423	28.8
Majority			624	42.4
Turnout			1,470	57.3
	Labour win (new seat)

Elgin-Bishopmill West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A Burgess	794	53.9
	Liberal Democrats	E Cameron	395	26.8
	SNP	J Sharp	285	19.3
Majority			399	27.1
Turnout			1,474	60.0
	Labour win (new seat)

Fife-Keith & Strathisla

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W Watt	528	36.2
	SNP	R Patterson (Incumbent)	423	29.0
	Liberal Democrats	G Duncan	289	19.8
	Labour	F Copland	220	15.1
Majority			105	7.2
Turnout			1,460	58.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Finderne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	R Gregory	610	47.8
	SNP	R Laing (Incumbent)	346	27.1
	Conservative	E Emerson	319	25.0
Majority			264	20.7
Turnout			1,275	51.9
	Independent win (new seat)

Forres Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	R McIntosh	1,033	72.5
	SNP	G MacDonald	392	27.5
Majority			641	45.0
Turnout			1,425	53.7
	Independent win (new seat)

Forres East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	I Young	547	34.9
	SNP	J Dingwall	365	22.3
	Independent	D Black	345	22.0
	Independent	F Villani	312	19.9
Majority			182	11.6
Turnout			1,569	61.5
	Conservative win (new seat)

Forres West & Altyre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A Urquhart	700	63.2
	SNP	M Whyte	407	36.8
Majority			293	26.5
Turnout			1,107	49.1
	Independent win (new seat)

Glenlivet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A Wilson	773	57.7
	SNP	M MacConachie	566	42.3
Majority			207	15.5
Turnout			1,339	55.0
	Independent win (new seat)

Heldon & Laich

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J Hogg	492	34.5
	Independent	G Mackessack-Leitch	464	32.5
	SNP	W Stewart	308	21.6
	Liberal Democrats	E Kellock	164	11.5
Majority			28	2.0
Turnout			1,428	61.0
	Independent win (new seat)

Innes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A Coutts	538	33.5
	Labour	C Heathcote	388	24.2
	SNP	M Howe (Incumbent)	379	23.6
	Liberal Democrats	P Cromar	300	18.7
Majority			150	9.3
Turnout			1,605	62.1
	Independent win (new seat)

Keith

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	L Gorn	633	45.1
	SNP	D Barr	467	33.3
	Labour	P Mann (Incumbent)	303	21.6
Majority			166	11.8
Turnout			1,403	57.4
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Lennox

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	T Howe (Incumbent)	584	39.0
	Conservative	C Findlay	539	36.0
	Liberal Democrats	J Milton	373	24.9
Majority			45	3.0
Turnout			1,496	65.1
	SNP win (new seat)

Lhanbryde & Birnie

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J Shaw (Incumbent)	727	53.5
	SNP	I Hamilton	310	22.8
	Labour	C Hamilton	164	12.1
	Liberal Democrats	D Cameron	158	11.6
Majority			417	30.7
Turnout			1,359	57.2
	Independent win (new seat)

Lossiemouth East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A Fleming	1,023	71.4
	SNP	D Crawford (Incumbent)	409	28.6
Majority			614	42.9
Turnout			1,432	57.5
	Independent win (new seat)

Lossiemouth West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	W Flynn	809	62.2
	SNP	J Stewart (Incumbent)	492	37.8
Majority			317	24.4
Turnout			1,301	52.0
	Independent win (new seat)

New Elgin East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J Divers	897	65.5
	SNP	M Anderson (Incumbent)	473	34.5
Majority			424	30.9
Turnout			1,370	53.5
	Labour win (new seat)

New Elgin West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M Ettles	804	57.4
	SNP	R Burns	596	42.6
Majority			208	14.9
Turnout			1,400	52.4
	Labour win (new seat)

Rathford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	R Shepard	853	63.6
	SNP	M Manson	489	36.4
Majority			364	27.1
Turnout			1,342	54.0
	Independent win (new seat)

Rural Keith & Rothes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SNP	P Paul	763	59.2
	Labour	P Radtke	525	40.8
Majority			238	18.5
Turnout			1,288	57.8
	SNP win (new seat)

Speyside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	E Aldridge (Incumbent)	1,241	78.0
	SNP	K Braithwaite	350	22.0
Majority			891	56.0
Turnout			1,591	63.4
	Independent win (new seat)

Aftermath

The Scottish National Party (SNP) lost 11 of their 13 seats, including losses for SNP group leader councillor Gordon Crawford and convener of the Moray Council councillor Gordon McDonald. As a result, 14 independent and the 6 Labour councillors agreed to form a coalition, with independent councillor Edward Aldridge elected as the convener of the Moray Council.