Elections to the

Orkney Islands Council The Orkney Islands Council ( gd, Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes o ...

were held on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the six wards created under the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, with 21 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system. Ward boundaries differ slightly from previous elections, with minor changes being made to the two Kirkwall wards, as well as the boundary nearest Kirkwall in East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray. At the previous election in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, independent councillors won the most seats and ran the council.

Background

Composition

There were no official changes to the political composition of the council in the preceding term. However, independent councillor John Ross Scott did announce he had joined the Greens in 2021, which did not change his affiliation on the council. One by-election was held and resulted in an independent hold.

Retiring councillors

Boundary changes

Following the passing of the

Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 Acts of the Scottish Parliament Additionally, the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 21 March 2018 but was referred to, and struck down by, the Supreme Court due to ...

, a review of the boundaries was undertaken in

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

and

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (, for, , Scottish Gaelic, Council of the Western Isles) is the local government council for ''Na h-Eileanan Siar'' (the Outer Hebrides) council area of Scotland.

. The Act allowed single- or two-member wards to be created to provide better representation of island communities. As a result, the boundaries of the existing wards were changed but the number of councillors remained the same.

North Isles The North Isles are the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The main islands in the group are Yell, Unst and Fetlar. Sometimes the islands in Yell Sound are included in this group. Importance They are a significant group, ...

, Stromness and South Isles and

West Mainland The West Mainland of the Shetland Islands is the part of the Shetland Mainland lying west of Aith (1° 23′ W). Geography Points of interest include: *Aith * Twatt *Sandness * Walls *Easter Skeld * Reawick *Wester Skeld Wester can refer to: ...

were unchanged. The boundaries in and around

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

were amended to better reflect local ties.

Kirkwall Airport Kirkwall Airport is the main airport serving Orkney in Scotland. It is located southeast of Kirkwall and is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. The airport is used by Loganair. History The airport was built and commissioned in ...

and neighbouring communities were placed in Kirkwall wards instead of East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray while the boundary between Kirkwall East and Kirkwall West and Orphir was amended by the harbour to make a more identifiable boundary.

Election result

Ward summary

, - class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left", Ward ! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
!rowspan=2, Total
Cllrs
, - class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , Ind !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , Green , - , align="left", Kirkwall East , bgcolor="" , 71.9 , bgcolor="" , 3 , 28.1 , 1 , 4 , - , align="left", Kirkwall West and Orphir , bgcolor="" , 86.3 , bgcolor="" , 3 , 13.7 , 1 , 4 , - , align="left", Stromness and South Isles , bgcolor="" , 86.3 , bgcolor="" , 3 , 13.7 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left",

, bgcolor="" , 88.2 , bgcolor="" , 4 , 11.8 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray , bgcolor="" , 85.5 , bgcolor="" , 3 , 14.5 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left",

, bgcolor="" , 100 , bgcolor="" , 3 , colspan="2" rowspan="1" , 3 , - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !align="left", Total !85.4 !19 !14.6 !2 !21

Ward results

Kirkwall East

Kirkwall West and Orphir

Stromness and South Isles

West Mainland

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

North Isles

References

{{2022 United Kingdom local elections Orkney Islands Council elections

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

21st century in Orkney