2012 Aberdeenshire Council election

2012 Aberdeenshire Council election
← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 68 seats to Aberdeenshire Council
35 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Richard Thomson Jim Gifford Karen Clark
Party SNP Conservative Liberal Democrats
Last election 22 seats, 34.5% 14 seats, 20.8% 24 seats, 25.2%
Seats won 28 14 12
Seat change Increase6 Steady Decrease12
Popular vote 27,336 14,907 10,797
Percentage 38.9% 21.2% 15.4%
Swing Increase4.4% Increase0.4% Decrease9.8%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Norman Smith Alison Evison Martin Ford
Party Independent Labour Scottish Green
Last election 8 seats, 12.7% 0 seats, 5.4% 0 seats, 1.1%
Seats won 11 2 1
Seat change Increase3 Increase2 Increase1
Popular vote 10,320 4,785 1,681
Percentage 14.7% 6.8% 2.4%
Swing Increase2.0% Increase1.4% Increase1.3%
2012 Aberdeenshire Council Election Results Map
Council Leader before election

Anne Robertson
Liberal Democrats

Council Leader after election

Jim Gifford
Conservative

Elections to Aberdeenshire Council were held on 3 May 2012, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 19 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 68 Councillors being elected.

The 2007 election saw the Liberal Democrats form a coalition on the Council with the Scottish Conservatives.

The 2012 election saw the SNP gain an additional 6 seats and become the largest party on the Council, supplanting the Lib Dems. The Tories retained their 14 seats on the Council and as a result became the second largest party. The Lib Dems lost half their Councillors falling from 24 to 12 seats. Independents also increased their overall numbers to 11 seats while Labour and the Scottish Green Party won seats in Aberdeenshire for the first time.

Following the election a Conservative-Lib Dem-Independent administration was formed. However, on 8 June 2015, a new administration was formed by the SNP and a 'Progressive Alliance' between Scottish Labour and 2 Progressive Independent councillors, who had been members of the previous administration.