Politics of Aberdeen
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| Aberdeen City Council | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
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| Geography | |
| Area | Ranked 25 |
| - Total | 71.22 miles (186 km) |
| - % Water | ? |
| Admin HQ | Aberdeen |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-ABE |
| ONS code | 00QA |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Ranked 8th |
| - Total (2005) | 202,370 |
| - Density | 1,088 / km² |
| Politics | |
| Aberdeen City Council aberdeencity.gov.uk |
|
| Control | Liberal Democrat / Conservative and Unionist |
| MPs | Frank Doran Anne Begg Malcolm Bruce |
| MSPs | Brian Adam Lewis Macdonald Nicol Stephen |
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The Politics of Aberdeen, Scotland have changed significantly in recent years. In 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, Grampian Regional Council was disolved, creating the new unitary Aberdeen City Council to represent the city's council area. Aberdeen City Council no longer has any direct control over the neighbouring area of Aberdeenshire, although the headquarters of Aberdeenshire Council remain located within the city.
Contents |
[edit] Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.
The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. However, a sense of Aberdeen as a city, with its own city council, can be traced back to 1900, when the city of county of Aberdeen was created.
In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the county of city was combined with Bucksburn, Newhills, Old Machar, Stoneywood, Dyce and Peterculter areas of the county of Aberdeen and a Nigg area of the county of Kincardine (including Cove Bay) to form the Aberdeen district of the Grampian region. This district became the now existing unitary council area in 1996.
On 9th 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".
[edit] Composition
The council consists, currently, of 20 Liberal Democrat councillors, 13 Labour councillors, 6 Scottish National Party councillors, three Conservative councillors and one Independent, former Labour member David Clyne.
The council has been under the control of a Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition holding a 23 seat majority since 2003. Prior to the 2003 election, the council had been considered a Labour stronghold.[1]
Aberdeen City Council comprises forty-three councillors who represent the city's wards and is headed by the Lord Provost who is currently Provost John Reynolds.
As of mid-2006 the Council consists of:
- 20 Liberal Democrat councillors
- 3 Conservative
- 14 Labour councillors
- 6 Scottish National Party councillors.[2]
[edit] Composition (current until May 2007)
The current composition is of 43 wards, their representative counsellors and political parties are:
| Party | Ward | Counsellor | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (34) Ashley | Martin Greig | |||||||||||
| SNP | (9) Auchmill | Kevin Stewart | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (2) Bankhead and Stoneywood | Brian Rattary | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (21) Berryden | John Stewart | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (6) Bridge of Don | Millicent McLeod | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (35) Broomhill | Ian Yuill | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (28) Castlehill | James Hunter | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (32) Cults | Aileen Malone | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (10) Cummings Park | Gordon Graham | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (3) Danestone | Raymond Hutcheon | |||||||||||
| SNP | (7) Donmouth | Muriel Jaffrey | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (38) Duthie | Irene Cormack | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (37) Gairn | Ronald Clark | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (36) Garthdee | Scott Cassie | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (26) Gilcomston | Alison Smith | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (29) Hazlehead | Karen Freel | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (15) Hilton | George Adam | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (37) Holburn | David Falconer | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (4) Jesmond | Gordon Leslie | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (42) Kincorth East | George Urquhart | |||||||||||
| Independent | (41) Kincorth West | David Clyne | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (19) Kittybrewster | Neil Fletcher | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (27) Langstane | Steve Delaney | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (43) Loirston | Katherine Dean | |||||||||||
| Scottish Conservative | (33) Mannofield | Jillian Wisely | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (12) Mastrick | Ramsey Milne | |||||||||||
| Scottish Conservative | (24 ) Midstocket | John Porter | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (31) Murtle | Matthew Duncan | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (8) Newhills | Peter Stephen | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (5) Oldmachar | John Reynolds | |||||||||||
| Liberal Democrats | (30) Peterculter | Pamela MacDonald | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (23) Pittodrie | Ronald Webster | |||||||||||
| Scottish Conservatives | (25) Queens Cross | Brenda Craig | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (18) Seaton | Norman Collie | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (13) Sheddocksley | James Lamond | |||||||||||
| SNP | (11) Springhill | Karen Shirron | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (17) St. Machar | Sandra Macdonald | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (20) Stockethill | June Lamond | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (14) Summerhill | Leonard Ironside | |||||||||||
| SNP | (22) Sunnybank | Andrew May | |||||||||||
| Scottish Labour | (39) Torry | Yvonne Allan | |||||||||||
| SNP | (40) Tullos | James Kiddie | |||||||||||
| SNP | (16) Woodside & Tillydrone | Alan Gowers | |||||||||||
| Source: Aberdeen City Council | |||||||||||||
[edit] New wards from May 2007
At present, councillors represent 43 single-member wards but from the next election, on Thursday 5th May 2007 all seats will become vacant. It will be the first election to use the single transferable vote system of election and multi-member wards, each ward electing three or four councillors. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland has completed its final recommendations for new wards for all the council areas of Scotland and for Aberdeen there will be 13 multi-member wards with a total of 43 councillors. This system is to be introduced as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and is designed to produce a form of proportional representation.[3]
The composition of wards will change to:
3 councillors:
- (11) Airyhall/Bromhill/Garthdee
- (8) George Street/Harbour
- (5) Hilton/Stockethill
- (13) Kincorth/Loirston
- (3) Kingswells/Sheddocksley
- (9) Lower Deeside
- (7) Midstocket/Rosemount
- (4) Northfield
- (6) Tillydrone/Hilton/Old Aberdeen
4 councillors:
- (2) Bridge of Don
- (1) Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone
- (10) Hazlehead/Ashley/Queens Cross
- (12) Torry/Ferryhill
[edit] UK Parliament
In the United Kingdom Parliament, the city is divided between three constituencies:
| Party | Constituency | Member | |
| Scottish Labour | Aberdeen North | Frank Doran | |
| Scottish Labour | Aberdeen South | Anne Begg | |
| Liberal Democrats | Gordon | Malcolm Bruce |
[edit] Scottish Parliament
There are three Scottish Parliament constituencies that overlap the Aberdeen City Council area in the North East Scotland electoral region:
| Party | Constituency | Member | |
| Scottish National Party | Aberdeen North | Brian Adam | |
| Scottish Labour | Aberdeen Central | Lewis Macdonald | |
| Liberal Democrats | Aberdeen South | Nicol Stephen |
Other MSP's in the North East Scotland electoral region (but selected by the Additional Member proportional representation system, and not in constituencies overlapping Aberdeen City or the Aberdeen City Council area) are:
- David Davidson, Nanette Milne, Alex Johnstone (Conservative)
- Marlyn Glen, Richard Baker (Labour)
- Maureen Watt, (SNP)
- Shiona Baird, (Scottish Green Party)
[edit] European Parliament
In the European Parliament, Scotland as a whole (and therefore Aberdeen) is represented by seven MEP's:
- Elspeth Attwooll, (Liberal Democrats)
- Ian Hudghton, (SNP)
- David Martin, (Labour)
- John Purvis, (Conservative and Unionist)
- Alyn Smith, (SNP)
- Struan Stevenson, (Conservative and Unionist)
- Catherine Stihler, (Labour)
[edit] Twinned cities
Aberdeen is twinned with several cities across Europe and throughout the rest of the world.[4] These include:
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[edit] References
- ^ David, Scott. "Labour is set to lose council strongholds in elections", The Scotsman, 2002-12-30.
- ^ Aberdeen City Councillors. Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
- ^ Scottish elections 2007. The Electoral Commission. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
- ^ Twinning. Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
[edit] External links
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