Meet the new Moray councillors (2)
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Amber Dunbar became involved in politics while carrying out work experience in the parliamentary office of Moray's MP Douglas Ross.
The Conservative councillor for Elgin North admits to "bawling her eyes out" when, following the Scottish local government elections in May, she was voted onto Moray Council to represent a ward in the town where she was born and brought up.
Ms Dunbar, who is a member of the minority Conservative administration, described the job as "amazing".
She said: "It’s the first time in my life I’ve look forward to a Monday morning.
"It is a massive learning curve. Even if you’ve had all the experience in the world I don’t think it could prepare you completely for it.
"But at this stage I feel I’ve figured things out."
While enjoying the work, being a councillor brings challenges.
Ms Dunbar said: "It’s a difficult thing when you can’t just click your fingers and fix everything – no one person can.
"And sometimes you find the ideal outcome is not always possible."
As chairwoman of the housing and community safety committee Ms Dunbar has to deal with a lot of housing issues.
She said: "I think my biggest successes have come from case work.
"It’s getting people a stable place to live or getting an occupational therapist out.
"Housing is fundamentally the one thing that people need, and the feedback I get from them is they’re so grateful."
While Moray's elected members have been criticised in the past by the Audit Commission for not collaborating, Ms Dunbar believes that is not the case at the moment.
She said: "The reason I got into politics was to help people, and I think that’s the case with most politicians regardless of their point of view.
"I really like the people at the council. We do work together on a variety of things.
"There is a meeting with all the Elgin councillors on things like common good, and I genuinely think we all work well together."
Even if discussions in the chamber do become heated she feels it is "a very productive environment".
At the age of 26 Ms Dunbar believes she brings a younger view point to the council.
She said: "It’s amazing to be able to show young people that local government can truly represent them too.
"I don’t think young people get a big enough voice in politics generally, being able to provide my perspective on things as a young woman who has grown up in Moray is a real privilege."
Ms Dunbar continues to work 10 hours a week in the Moray MP’s office.
She said: "I’m very lucky I have a role that fits in with being a councillor.
"It is very much a full-time job, but I knew it would be before I put myself forward for it."
