Orkney voters elect new islands councillors
Back row from the left: — Heather Woodbridge, Sandy Cowie, David Dawson, Gwenda Shearer, Leslie Manson, Graham Bevan, James Stockan, Owen Tierney and John Ross Scott.
Front row from the left: — Steven Heddle, Lindsay Hall, Gillian Skuse, Ivan Taylor, Mellissa Thomson, Kristopher Leask.
Missing from photo: — Rachael King, Raymie Peace, James Moar, and Jean Stevenson, Duncan Tullock, and Stephen Clackson.
The 2022 Orkney Islands Council election has yielded some unprecedented results, including the election of two Scottish Greens candidates — and the youngest councillor in the local authority’s history.
All 21 councillors who are set to serve our community for the next five years were declared at this Friday’s count, following a hotly contested election in many of the six wards.
Out of an electorate of 17,659, a total of 49.7 per cent turned out to vote — including postal voters.
As well as the election of Orkney’s youngest ever islands councillor, Scottish Greens’ Kristopher Leask, the number of female councillors also increased by two to a total of six.
Meanwhile, a number of incumbents also lost their seats to newcomers — including Rob Crichton and Magnus Thomson in the Stromness and South Isles ward, and Barbara Foulkes in the Kirkwall West and Orphir ward.
While only two of the five Scottish Greens candidates won their seats in what is historically a majority-independent council area, none of were the first to be eliminated in their respective wards — with Eric Page narrowing missing the third seat in East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray.
The newly elected councillors will now take part in a rigorous training process before taking part in their first full council meeting on Monday, May 16. It is there that the new leader, deputy leader and convener will be selected, as well as committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons.
The full results of the election, ward-by-ward, are as follows: