From 1900 to 1975 the area and its administrative body were called 'The County of the City of Aberdeen' but unofficially either as 'Aberdeen Corporation', 'The Corporation of Aberdeen', 'Corporation of the City of Aberdeen' or (more rarely) 'Aberdeen City Council'.
This district became the now existing unitary council area in 1996. On 9 May 1995, by resolution under section 23 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the City of Aberdeen Council changed the name of the local government area of "City of Aberdeen" to "Aberdeen City"[4] and the administrative body's title to "Aberdeen City 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:[5]
Aberdeen City Council currently comprises 45 councillors, who represent the city's wards, and is headed by the Lord Provost.[7] 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 Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, holding 23 of the 43 seats on the council. Prior to the 2003 election, the council had been considered a Labour stronghold.[8] Following the 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 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 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.[9]
The Labour/Conservative/Independent coalition continued after the 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[10]
After the 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 change of allegiance in June 2023, the composition of the council was:[12][13]
Council meetings are held at Aberdeen Town House on Broad Street, which was built in 1874 and substantially extended in 1975, including a new council chamber.[14] The council's main offices are now in the neighbouring Marischal College. The council moved into the renovated former college building in 2011.[15]
Council structure
Before May 2007, councillors represented 43 single-member wards election on a first-past-the-post basis.
Note: The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.
^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".
