Aberdeen - Governance

Governance

Aberdeen is locally governed by Aberdeen City Council, which comprises forty-three councillors who represent the city's wards and is headed by the Lord Provost. The current Lord Provost is George Adam. From May 2003 until May 2007 the council was run by a Liberal Democrat and Conservatives coalition. Following the May 2007 elections the Liberal Democrats formed a new coalition with the Scottish National Party. In May 2007 the council consisted of: 15 Liberal Democrat, 13 SNP, 10 Labour, 4 Conservative councillors and a single independent councillor. After an SNP by-election gain from the Conservatives on 16 August 2007, the Lib Dem/SNP coalition held 28 of the 43 seats). In August 2009 a councillor resigned from the Liberal Democrats and became an independent. The Conservative Group split in August 2010 with two councillors forming the Aberdeen Conservatives. All four Conservatives remain recognised as Conservatives by the party nationally. Following the election of 3 May 2012, the council is controlled by a coalition of centre-left Scottish Labour, centre-right Scottish Conservative and independent councillors.

Aberdeen is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by three constituencies: Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South and Gordon, of which the first two are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area while the latter also encompasses a large swathe of Aberdeenshire. In the Scottish Parliament the city is represented by three constituencies with different boundaries: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside and Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. The first two are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area, and the latter encompasses the North Kincardine ward of Aberdeenshire Council. A further seven MSPs are elected as part of the North East Scotland electoral region. In the European Parliament the city is represented by six MEPs as part of the all-inclusive Scotland constituency.