SNP takes highest number of seats on Highland Council
The SNP took the highest number of seats on Highland Council after voters went to the polls across the country for local authority elections.
The SNP won every seat they contested, finishing with a total of 22. Of these, 11 are newly-elected councillors. This equals their 2017 election tally of 22 councillors.
It was also a good day for the Green Party, which returned four councillors: Chris Ballance in Aird and Loch Ness, Andrew Baldrey in Caol and Mallaig, Kate Willis in Fort William and Ardnamurchan and Ryan Mackintosh in Inverness West. Their previous Green candidate Pippa Hadley lost her seat in Badenoch and Strathspey.
Independent candidates dropped seven seats this year as they struggled to make a dent in Inverness wards. A total of 21 seats went to independents, falling one short of the SNP’s result.
In 2017, they managed 28, allowing them to form a coalition administration with the Liberal Democrats and Labour.
The Liberal Democrats increased their presence in the chamber, winning 15 seats, compared with 10 in 2017.
There were small gains for the Conservatives too, who managed 10 seats. However, former Lochaber Area Committee leader, Andrew Baxter, was unsuccessful in the bid to get elected as a Conservative councillor for the Cromarty Firth ward, after choosing to not seek re-election for Fort William and Ardnamurchan (Ward 21).
Labour dropped down from three seats to two, with experienced councillor Bet McAllister holding the Inverness ward she has represented for 15 years. Labour candidate Andrew Mackintosh was newly elected to Inverness Ness-side to take their tally to two.
In Inverness itself, party politics seemed to win the day. Only Duncan Macpherson, incumbent independent candidate, was able to hold his seat. The SNP took six places across the five city wards, while the Liberal Democrats secured two. It was a mixed bag of new blood and safe hands, with roughly half of councillors coming in new.
Small political groups were in for disappointment. The Alba Party, Scottish Libertarians, Scottish Family Party, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and Freedom Party all went home with nothing.
It will be left to the SNP and the Independent group to now scramble to secure a coalition deal. The last political term saw the Independent-led coalition win votes on a knife edge.
However, in the latter half of the term they agreed a collaborative budget approach with the SNP – a strategy that was roundly opposed by the Conservative group.
With a roads headache, numerous new schools to finance and the small matter of a cost of living crisis, the new administration will need to get to work quickly.
The first meeting of the new Council will be held on Thursday May 26.