2022 Aberdeen City Council election

2022 Aberdeen City Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 45 seats to Aberdeen City Council 23 seats needed for a majority
Registered	165,847
Turnout	41.2%
First party Second party   SNP Lab Leader Alex Nicoll Jenny Laing Party SNP Labour Leader's seat Kincorth/Nigg/ Cove Midstocket/ Rosemount (retiring) Last election 19 seats, 32.6% 9 seats, 16.9% Seats before 19 9 Seats won 20 11 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 23,472 11,731 Percentage 35.0% 17.5% Swing 2.8% 0.2%   Third party Fourth party   Con LD Leader Ryan Houghton Ian Yuill Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Airyhall/Broomhill/ Garthdee Airyhall/Broomhill/ Garthdee Last election 11 seats, 25.0% 4 seats, 15.4% Seats before 10 3 Seats won 8 4 Seat change 3 Popular vote 14,493 9,404 Percentage 21.6% 14.0% Swing 3.1% 1.2%   Fifth party   Leader Marie Boulton Party Independent Leader's seat Lower Deeside Last election 2 seats, 7.9% Seats before 2 Seats won 2 Seat change Popular vote 3,569 Percentage 5.3% Swing 2.0%
The 13 multi-member wards.
Leader before election Jenny Laing (Aberdeen Labour) No overall control Co-leaders after election Alex Nicoll (SNP) & Ian Yuill (Lib Dem) No overall control

Elections to Aberdeen City Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the second consecutive election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party on the council, increasing their number by one to 20 councillors out of 45. Labour – standing under the Aberdeen Labour moniker – regained some of the ground it had lost at the previous election to overtake the Conservatives for second place with 11 councillors (up two), while the Conservatives lost three seats to return eight councillors. The number of Liberal Democrats (four) and independent candidates (two) elected was unchanged, though there had been four independent councillors immediately prior to the election due to a suspension and a resignation.

Following the election, a coalition between the SNP and Liberal Democrats was formed to run the council, taking over from the incumbent Aberdeen Labour administration; this group had been in control of the council following a deal with the Conservatives in 2017 that was not sanctioned by the party hierarchy and resulted in the group being suspended from Labour. Alex Nicoll, SNP group leader, and Ian Yuill, Liberal Democrat group leader, were elected as co-leaders of the council.