John Stuart elected councillor after Buckie by-election
He joins party colleague Sonya Warren and unaffiliated councillor Neil McLennan as elected members for the ward.
The SNP has won the Buckie by-election.
John Stuart was selected with 1,172 of the first preference votes at the count in the Fishermen’s Hall in Buckie earlier today.
He joins party colleague Sonya Warren and unaffiliated councillor Neil McLennan as elected members for the ward.
Conservative’s Tim Eagle was second in the ballot.
No one managed to reach the quota of 1,199, but Mr Stuart was elected with the most votes.
It means the SNP have nine councillors the same as the minority Conservative administration.
However, the group is unlikely to make a move to take charge of Moray Council.
As well as the nine members of the administration and nine SNP members, there are three Labour councillors, two independents and one Green.
There is also one Conservative, James Allan – a member for Heldon and Laich – who is not a member of the administration, and another, Buckie councillor Mr McLennan, who was co-leader of the Tory group but who is no longer aligned with the party and not a member of the ruling group.
Mr Stuart, an inspector with the Care Inspectorate, said: “Im feeling really good.
“I’m looking forward to taking on the role of councillor and being a strong representatives for Buckie, Arradoul, Rathven, Findochty, Buckpool and Portessie.
“They are all part of the ward, and working together with my party colleague Sonya, and the other councillor Neil, we’ll provide a good strong voice for the Buckie ward.”
Unaffiliated candidate Neil Holden was eliminated at stage one, Liberal Democrat Les Tarr was voted out at stage two and Labour’s Keighly Goudie at stage three of the single transferable voting system used for the ballot.
After missing out at on a vote at the local government elections in May only 29% of the electorate turned out for the Buckie by-election.
It was callae when Liberal Democrat Christopher Price resigned in August after only 103 days in the job.
He found it difficult to manage his duties as councillor with his full-time job as a travel clerk with the Ministry of Defence.
Mr Price was one of three candidates who stood in the ward for local government elections in May.
But with only three seats available, he along with Mrs Warren and Mr McLennan, who stood for the Conservatives at the time, were sworn in as councillors during the count on May 6.
While access to childcare, road safety, anti-social behaviour and the cost of living are on may people’s minds, the main issue in the town and the surrounding communities is the replacement of the crumbling Buckie High School.
While Moray Council has submitted funding bids to the Scottish Government to help with costs to replace the coastal secondary and Forres Academy, councillors will be asked next week to chose the Forres school as the local authority’s priority project.
Mr Stuart will be able to have his say on the proposal at a meeting on Monday.