Aberdeenshire Council
Council logo
Leadership
Provost	Judy Whyte, Independent since 19 May 2022[1]
Leader	Gillian Owen, Conservative since 29 June 2023[2]
Chief Executive	Jim Savege since February 2015[3]
Structure
Seats	70 councillors
Political groups	Administration (46)  Conservative (25)  Liberal Democrats (14)  Independent (7) Other parties (24)  SNP (18)  Independent (4)  Reform (2)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Woodhill House, Westburn Road,Aberdeen, AB16 5GB
Website
www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Aberdeenshire Council is thelocal authority forAberdeenshire, one of the 32council areas of Scotland. The council has been underno overall control since its creation in 1996. It is based atWoodhill House, which is outside its own territory in the neighbouringAberdeen City council area.

The Aberdeenshire council area was created in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished theregions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with single-tier council areas. Aberdeenshire covered the area of the abolishedBanff and Buchan,Gordon andKincardine and Deeside districts, all of which had been part of theGrampian region. It is named after thehistoric county ofAberdeenshire, but covers a larger area, also including most of the historic county ofKincardineshire and eastern parts of the historic county ofBanffshire.^[4]

The council is the fifth largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 70 members.^[5]

The council has devolved power to sixarea committees:Banff and Buchan;Buchan;Formartine;Garioch;Marr; andKincardine and Mearns. Each area committee takes decisions on local issues such as planning applications, and the split is meant to reflect the diverse circumstances of each area.^[6]

The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Aberdeenshire Council has been underno overall control since its creation:^[7]

Theleaders of the council since 1996 have been:^[8]

Following the2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to November 2024, the composition of the council was:

Of the independent councillors, seven form the 'Administration Independents' group, which forms part of the council's administration in coalition with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. One sits in the SNP group, and another two form the 'Democratic Independent Group'; together these comprise the 'Opposition Coalition'. The remaining two independent councillors do not belong to any group.^[12] The next election is due in 2027.^[13] The two Conservative councillors who defected to Reform UK in October 2024 became the party's first representatives in Scotland.^[14]

The council is based atWoodhill House inAberdeen, outside the council's own territory. The building was completed in 1977 for the formerGrampian Regional Council.^[15]

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under thesingle transferable vote system, introduced by theLocal Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:^[7]

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Map of the area's ward (2017 configuration).

The council has 70councillors, elected bysingle transferable vote in 19 multi-member wards:

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