Editing Aberdeen City Council (section)

==Political control==
The council has been under [[no overall control]] since 2002. Following the [[2022 Aberdeen City Council election|2022 election]] a [[Scottish National Party]] and [[Scottish Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrats]] coalition took control of the council.

The first election to the City of Aberdeen District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the change to council areas which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1975 has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>{{cite web |title=Compositions calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/?page_id=3825 |website=The Elections Centre |access-date=16 April 2023}}</ref>

'''City of Aberdeen District Council'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Party in control!!Years
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || 1975–1977
|-
| {{Party name with colour|No overall control}} || 1977–1980
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || 1980–1996
|}

'''Aberdeen City Council'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Party in control!!Years
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || 1996–2002
|-
| {{Party name with colour|No overall control}} || 2002–present
|}

===Leadership===
The role of [[List of provosts of Aberdeen|Lord Provost of Aberdeen]] is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the [[Local government in Scotland#Leader of the Council|leader of the council]]. The leaders since 1996 have been:<ref>{{cite web |title=Council minutes |url=https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgCalendarMonthView.aspx?GL=1&bcr=1 |website=Aberdeen City Council |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable
! Councillor !! colspan=2|Party !! From !! To !! Notes
|-
| Margaret Smith || {{party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || align=right|1 Apr 1996 || align=right|13 May 1999 ||
|-
| Len Ironside || {{party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || align=right|13 May 1999 || align=right|14 May 2003 ||
|-
| Kate Dean || {{party name with colour|Scottish Liberal Democrats}} || align=right|14 May 2003 || align=right|1 Aug 2009 ||
|-
| John Stewart || {{party name with colour|Scottish Liberal Democrats}} || align=right|1 Aug 2009 || align=right|29 Jun 2011 ||
|-
| [[Callum McCaig]] || {{party name with colour|Scottish National Party}} || align=right|29 Jun 2011 || align=right|16 May 2012 ||
|-
| Barney Crockett || {{party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || align=right|16 May 2012 || align=right|14 May 2014 ||
|-
| Jenny Laing || {{party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || align=right|14 May 2014 || align=right|17 May 2017 ||
|-
| Jenny Laing{{efn|On forming a coalition with the Conservatives in May 2017, all nine members of Aberdeen's Labour group were suspended from the national Labour Party. As such they became nominally independent councillors, but chose to continue to form a political group, called "Aberdeen Labour".}} || {{party name with colour|Aberdeen Labour}} || rowspan=2 align=right|17 May 2017 || rowspan=2 align=right|13 May 2021 || rowspan=2 align=left|Co-leaders
|-
| [[Douglas Lumsden]] || {{party name with colour|Scottish Conservatives}} 
|-
| Jenny Laing || {{party name with colour|Aberdeen Labour}} || align=right|13 May 2021 || align=right|5 May 2022 ||
|-
| Alex Nicoll || {{party name with colour|Scottish National Party}} || rowspan=2 align=right|18 May 2022 || rowspan=2 align=right|23 May 2023 || rowspan=2 align=left|Co-leaders
|-
| [[Ian Yuill]] || {{party name with colour|Scottish Liberal Democrats}} 
|-
| Christian Allard || {{party name with colour|Scottish National Party}} || rowspan=2 align=right|23 May 2023 || rowspan=2 align=right|{{nbsp}} || rowspan=2 align=left|Co-leaders
|-
| [[Ian Yuill]] || {{party name with colour|Scottish Liberal Democrats}} 
|-
|}

===Composition===
[[File:Aberdeen City Council Chamber 2015 1.JPG|thumb|Aberdeen City Council Chamber]]

Aberdeen City Council currently comprises 45 councillors, who represent the city's [[ward (politics)|wards]], and is headed by the [[List of Provosts and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen|Lord Provost]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39959841|title=Aberdeen Provost says Labour coalition row will be resolved|date=2017-05-18|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-05-21|language=en-GB}}</ref> 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 [[Scottish Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrat]] and [[Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party|Conservative]] coalition, holding 23 of the 43 seats on the council. Prior to the 2003 election, the council had been considered a [[Scottish Labour Party|Labour]] stronghold.<ref>{{cite news|first=Scott|last=David|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1443312002|title=Labour is set to lose council strongholds in elections|work=The Scotsman|date=2002-12-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109233442/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1443312002|archive-date=9 January 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Following the [[2007 Aberdeen City Council election|May 2007 election]], contested for the first time using a system of [[proportional representation]], 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 [[Independent (politics)|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 [[2012 Aberdeen City Council election|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18003121|title=Labour-Conservative administration to run Aberdeen City Council|work=BBC News|date=2012-05-09}}</ref>

The Labour/Conservative/Independent coalition continued after the [[2017 Aberdeen City Council election|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-39940006|title=Labour councillors in Aberdeen suspended over Tory coalition|date=2017-05-17|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-05-21|language=en-GB}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/tory-deputy-provosts-sex-shame-21093341|title=Aberdeen Tory councillor's sex shame after male waiter left 'trembling'|first=Charlie|last=Gall|date=14 December 2019|website=Daily Record}}</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.<ref name=":0" />

After the [[2022 Aberdeen City Council election|2022 election]] the SNP and Liberal Democrats agreed to form a partnership to lead the Council for the next five years. At the Council's statutory meeting on 18 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.

Following the 2022 election and a subsequent by-election in February 2023 and changes of allegiance up to October 2023, the composition of the council was:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hebditch |first1=Jon |title=Labour win Aberdeen by-election as SNP vote share drops in traditional heartland |url=https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/labour-win-aberdeen-election-snp-8185483 |access-date=14 July 2023 |work=Aberdeen Live |date=24 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Saunderson |first1=Jamie |title=Ex-Aberdeen Lord Provost Barney Crockett quits Labour party over 'brutal' oil and gas plans |url=https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/ex-aberdeen-lord-provost-barney-8539056 |access-date=14 July 2023 |work=Aberdeen Live |date=21 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pollock |first1=Laura |title=Kairin van Sweeden resigns membership amid 'New Scot' comment row |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23852422.kairin-van-sweeden-resigns-membership-amid-new-scot-comment-row/ |access-date=29 July 2024 |work=The National |date=12 October 2023}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2| Party
! Councillors
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish National Party}} || align=center|19
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Labour}} || align=center|11
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Conservatives}} || align=center|7
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Scottish Liberal Democrats}} || align=center|4
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Independent politician}} || align=center|4
|-
! colspan=2|Total
! align=center|45
|}

The next election is due in 2027.