gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption = Aberdeen Town House , image_flag = , image_shield = Aberdeen-arms.png , image_blank_emblem = Aberdeen City Council logo.svg , blank_emblem_type = , image_map = Aberdeen City in Scotland.svg , map_caption = , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Sovereign State , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Constituent Country , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_name2 = , seat_type = Admin HQ , seat = Aberdeen , government_footnotes = , governing_body = Aberdeen City Council , leader_title = Control , leader_name = No overall control: SNP- LD coalition , leader_title1 = Lord Provost , leader_name1 = Cllr David Cameron , leader_title2 = Council co-leaders , leader_name2 = Cllr Alex Nicoll
Cllr Ian Yuill , leader_title3 =

MPs MPS, M.P.S., MPs, or mps may refer to: Science and technology * Mucopolysaccharidosis, genetic lysosomal storage disorder * Mononuclear phagocyte system, cells in mammalian biology * Myofascial pain syndrome * Metallopanstimulin * Potassium perox ...

, leader_name3 = Kirsty Blackman
Richard Thomson
Stephen Flynn , leader_title4 = MSPs , leader_name4 = Jackie Dunbar

Kevin Stewart Kevin Stewart may refer to: * Kevin Stewart (Australian politician) (1928–2006), former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kevin Stewart (Scottish politician) (born 1968), member of the Scottish Parliament, 2011– * Kevin Stewa ...

Audrey Nicoll , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = , area_rank = Ranked , population_footnotes = , population_total = , population_as_of = , population_rank = Ranked , population_density_km2 = auto , area_code_type = ONS code , area_code = S12000033 , iso_code = GB-ABE , website = , footnotes = Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland. The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. However, a sense of Aberdeen as a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, with its own city council, can be traced back to 1900, when the county of the city of Aberdeen was created. From 1900 to 1975 the area and its administrative body were called ‘The County of the City of Aberdeen’ but unofficially either as ‘Aberdeen Corporation’, ‘Corporation of the City of Aberdeen’ or (more rarely) ‘Aberdeen City Council’. In 1975, under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

, counties of cities were abolished. The area of the former county of a city was combined with Bucksburn, Dyce, Newhills, Old Machar, Peterculter and the Stoneywood areas of the county of Aberdeen, and the Nigg area of the

county of Kincardine Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

, (including Cove Bay) to form the Aberdeen district of the Grampian region. The title of the administrative body was then "City of Aberdeen District Council." This district became the now existing

unitary council area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

in 1996. On 9 May 1995, by resolution under section 23 of the

, the City of Aberdeen Council changed the name of the local government area of "City of Aberdeen" to "Aberdeen City".Scottish Statutory Instrument 2011 No. 443
/ref> and the administrative body's title to "Aberdeen City Council."

Composition

Aberdeen City Council currently comprises 45 councillors, who represent the city's

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, and is headed by the Lord Provost. Prior to the 2012 council election there were 43 members of Aberdeen City Council. Between 2003 and 2007, the council was under the control of a Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, holding 23 of the 43 seats on the council. Prior to the 2003 election, the council had been considered a Labour stronghold. Following the May 2007 election, contested for the first time using a system of proportional representation, the Liberal Democrats and

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) formed a coalition to run the council, holding 27 of the 43 seats (following an SNP by election gain from the Conservatives on 16 August 2007, the coalition held 28 of the 43 seats). Two Liberal Democrat councillors became independents during this period due to personal controversies, while the four strong Conservative group split in August 2010, with two councillors forming the Scottish Conservative Group and two others the Aberdeen Conservative Group. After the May 2012 election, the control of the council shifted back to the Labour Party, supported in a coalition by three Conservative and three Independent councillors, giving the administration 23 seats. The Labour/Conservative/Independent coalition continued after the 2017 election, but with a change in the balance of power within the coalition. Labour were reduced to nine councillors (subsequently suspended from membership by the Scottish Labour Party for forming a coalition with the Conservatives), whilst the Conservatives had eleven councillors elected. These Conservative and suspended "Aberdeen Labour" councillors were joined in coalition by three Independent councillors, one of who had left the Liberal Democrats just days after the council election. In December 2019 a councillor elected as a Conservative became an Independent following his conviction for sexual assault.Daily Record, 14th December 2019
/ref> This led to the ruling coalition becoming a minority administration comprising only 22 of the 45 councillors. Between 2017 and 2021 the council had Co-Leaders Douglas Lumsden (Conservative) and Jenny Laing (“Aberdeen Labour”) as a result of the coalition agreement. Following Douglas Lumsden's election to the Scottish Parliament in May 2021 Jenny Laing became sole Leader of the council. Political composition (as at December 2021): *

: 19 councillors ** Leader: Alex Nicoll * Conservatives; 10 councillors ** Leader: Ryan Houghton * So-called ''Aberdeen Labour'': 9 councillors ** Leader: Jenny Laing * Scottish Liberal Democrats: 3 councillors ** Leader:

Ian Yuill Ian Gillan Yuill, (born 12 February 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as councillor in Aberdeen, Scotland since 1994. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he has served alongside Alex Nicoll of the Scottish National Party as Co ...

* Independent Alliance: 3 councillors * Independent: 1 councillor Following the council elections on 5th May 2022 the political composition of Aberdeen City Council became: * Scottish National Party: 20 * Labour: 11 * Conservatives: 8 * Liberal Democrats: 4 * Independent: 2 After negotiations, the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats agreed to form a partnership to lead the Council for the next five years. At the Council’s statutory meeting on 18th May 2022 SNP councillor David Cameron was elected Lord Provost and Liberal Democrat Councillor Steve Delaney was elected Depute Provost. SNP Group Leader Alex Nicoll and Liberal Democrat Group Leader Ian Yuill became Co-Leaders of the Council. Officers: * Council Co-Leaders: Alex Nicoll and Ian Yuill * Lord Provost of Aberdeen: David Cameron * Chief Executive: Angela Scott * Director of Resources: Stephen Whyte * Chief Officer - Governance: Fraser Bell

Council Structure

Before May 2007, councillors represented 43 single-member wards election on a first-past-the-post basis. On 3 May 2007, the single transferable vote system was used for the first time and multi-member wards were introduced, each ward electing three or four councillors. The

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in Scotland created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of boun ...

completed its final recommendations for new wards for all the council areas of Scotland. Aberdeen is divided into 13 multi-member wards, electing a total of 45 councillors. This system was introduced as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and is designed to produce a form of proportional representation.

Current multi-member ward system

As of 4 May 2017, the current wards and representative numbers are: Aberdeen UK ward map 2017 numbered

Election results

2022

2017

2012

2007

References

External links

* {{Authority control Politics of Aberdeen Local authorities of Scotland Organisations based in Aberdeen