Elections to Angus Council took place on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
For the 11th consecutive election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party with 13 seats – two shy of an overall majority. The Conservatives lost much of the ground they had made up in the previous election as their vote share fell by 7.3%, losing one seat to return seven councillors. The number of independents fell by two to seven, and the remaining seat was won by Labour. The Liberal Democrats lost both their seats.
The outgoing Conservative–Liberal Democrat–independent coalition was replaced by an SNP–independent administration with Cllr Beth Whiteside elected as council leader and Cllr Brian Boyd elected as Provost.
At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) remained the largest party – tied with the number of independents – despite losing 40 per cent of their seats. As a result, they lost control of the council to a coalition of independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives came third despite recording the largest share of first preference votes as they gained four seats to double their number of councillors. The Liberal Democrats also gained one seat to double their representation, while Labour – who received a larger vote share than the Liberal Democrats – lost their only seat.[1][2]
No by-elections were held following the previous election in 2017. The only change in the political composition of the council came when Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim councillor Richard Moore resigned from the Liberal Democrats and sat as an independent after he was found to have inappropriately touched several women.[4]
The total number of candidates increased from 53 in 2017 to 56. As with the previous election, the SNP fielded the most candidates at 14 – one fewer than in 2017. After their success in the 2017 election, the Conservatives fielded a total of 11 candidates – two more than the previous election – while the number of independent candidates fell from 14 to 11. The Liberal Democrats maintained a total of eight candidates and Labour a total of seven as they both had in 2017. For the first time, the Alba Party (three) fielded candidates in Angus.[2][5]
Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.
Note 1: Cllr Braes was councillor for Brechin and Edzell from 2017 to 2022.
Ward results
Kirriemuir and Dean
The SNP retained the seat they had won at the previous election and gained one from the Conservatives while the Conservatives retained one of their two seats.
The SNP and Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Jill Scott gained a seat from retiring independent councillor Bob Myles.
The SNP and Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from independent candidate Colin Brown.
The SNP, Conservatives and independent candidate David Fairweather retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats.
The SNP, Conservatives and independent candidate Tommy Stewart retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained a seat from independent candidate Mark Salmond.
Following the election, the outgoing Conservative–Liberal Democrat–independent administration was replaced after the SNP group formed a coalition with independent councillors Brian Boyd and David Cheape. At the first meeting of the new council on 24 May 2022, SNP councillor Beth Whiteside was elected as leader of the council – the first woman to hold the role – replacing independent councillor David Fairweather. Cllr Boyd was elected as Provost – the first openly gay man to hold the role – and Cllr Linda Clark was elected deputy Provost. Provost Boyd said the new council should seek to end the "petty politics that have blighted Angus Council in its entirety".[22][23]
In July 2024, Cllr Boyd resigned as Provost after behaviour which he described as falling "below personal standards". Cllr Boyd was called "an absolute disgrace" and "a bully" after interrupting Cllr Lois Speed and making her cry.[24]
Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim by-election
In October 2023, former council leader and Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim councillor David Fairweather announced his intention to retire from the council.[25] He formally stood down in February 2024 and a by-election was held on 25 April 2024.[26] The seat was won by the Conservative candidate, Jack Cruickshanks.[27]
