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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 Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
, 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 , leader_name3 =
Kirsty Blackman Kirsty Ann Blackman (; born 20 March 1986) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen North since 2015. Blackman was re-elected in 2017 and 2019 and currently serves as the SNP Spokes ...

Richard Thomson
Stephen Flynn , leader_title4 = MSPs , leader_name4 = Jackie Dunbar
Kevin Stewart
Audrey Nicoll Audrey Elizabeth Nicoll (née Gibb; born 1961) is a Scottish politician who has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has repres ...
, 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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. 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 A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county-empower ...
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, counties of cities were abolished. The area of the former county of a city was combined with Bucksburn, Dyce, Newhills, Old Machar,
Peterculter Peterculter ( sco, Petercouter), also known as Culter (Scots: ''Couter''), is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about inland from Aberdeen city centre. Peterculter is on the northern banks of the River Dee, near the confluences with Crynoch ...
and the Stoneywood areas of the
county of Aberdeen Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen ( sco, Coontie o Aiberdeen, gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The area of the county, excluding the city of Aberdeen itself, is also a lieutenancy ...
, 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 w ...
, (including Cove Bay) to form the Aberdeen district of the Grampian
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
. 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 Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, 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, 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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party (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): * Scottish National Party: 19 councillors ** Leader: Alex Nicoll * Conservatives; 10 councillors ** Leader: Ryan Houghton * So-called ''Aberdeen Labour'': 9 councillors ** Leader: Jenny Laing *
Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of ...
: 3 councillors ** Leader: Ian Yuill * Independent Alliance: 3 councillors *
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
: 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 In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...
basis. On 3 May 2007, the
single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
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 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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
.


Current multi-member ward system

As of 4 May 2017, the current wards and representative numbers are:


Election results


2022


2017


2012


2007


References


External links

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