Elgin South by-election date is set by Moray Council
A date has been set for a by-election which has been triggered after a local councillor was elected to Westminster.
Graham Leadbitter is now an MP so his seat representing the Elgin South ward on Moray Council will be contested on Thursday, November 7, with the count taking place from 10am the following day.
By-elections must be held within three months of a councillor resigning.
Graham Leadbitter handed in his notice after winning the Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency in the General Election in July.
His last day as the SNP councillor for the ward will be Tuesday, August 13.
A decision has yet to be made on the location of the count for the Elgin South by-election.
There are three seats representing Elgin South on the council. The other two are occupied by John Divers (Labour) and Peter Bloomfield (Conservative).
Whoever wins the vote in November it is not expected to change which political group runs the council.
With nine members the Conservatives are the biggest group and are in charge as a minority administration.
Mr Leadbitter’s departure will reduce the SNP’s number to seven, although they will still be the second largest group in the 26-member council, which also contains three Labour, one Green and five independent or non-aligned councillors.
This will be the second by-election in Moray since the local government elections in May 2022.
The first was held in Buckie in November last year after Liberal Democrat councillor Christopher Price resigned after only 103 days in the job.
The cost to the council of holding that vote was just over £27,000.
It was won by SNP candidate John Stuart. However he has since left the party and sits as an independent.
