2022 Highland Council election explained

Elections to The Highland Council were held 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 first time, a political party won the most seats in a Highland Council election as the Scottish National Party (SNP) replaced independent councillors as the largest group on the council after winning 22 seats. In total, 21 independents were elected. The Liberal Democrats gained five seats to hold 15 while the Conservatives matched their record-breaking performance at the 2017 election by holding 10 seats. The Greens overtook Labour to become the fifth-largest group on the council after gaining three seats to hold four. Labour lost one seat to hold two.

Following the election, the SNP and independent groups formed a coalition to run the council.

Background

Previous election

See main article: 2017 Highland Council election. At the previous election in 2017, a plurality of councillors returned were independents with 28 elected – seven fewer than the previous election. The Scottish National Party (SNP) were the largest political party elected with 22 seats while the Conservatives won their first seats on the council since 1995 as they gained 10 seats – their best ever result in the region. Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour lost five seats to hold 10 and three respectively while the Greens won their first representation on the council.^{[1] [2]}

As a result, the independent group formed a coalition administration with the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups to run the council.^[3]

2017 Highland Council election result

Party	Seats	Vote share
	Independent	28	36.1%
	SNP	22	25.0%
	Conservatives	10	15.7%
	Liberal Democrats	10	12.8%
	Labour	3	6.9%
	Green	1	3.1%

Source: ^{[1] [2]}

Electoral system

The election used the 21 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 64 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.^[4]

Composition

Since the previous election, there were several changes in the composition of the council. A number were changes to the political affiliation of councillors, including SNP councillors Calum MacLeod, Maxine Smith, Pauline Munro and Liz MacDonald who resigned from the party to become independents^{[5] [6]} and independent councillor Donnie Mackay who resigned from the independent administration to join the Conservatives.^[7] Independent councillor Andrew Baxter was removed from the independent administration and initially continued under the designation "Real Independent" before joining the Conservatives.^[8] SNP councillor Ken Gowans resigned from the party to become an independent in 2017 before subsequently rejoining the party the following year.^[9]

In total, nine by-elections were held and resulted in an independent gain from the Liberal Democrats,^[10] a Liberal Democrats gain from the SNP,^[11] an SNP gain from the Liberal Democrats,^[12] an SNP hold,^[13] an independent hold,^[14] an independent gain from the Conservatives,^[15] two Liberal Democrats gains from independents^[16] and an SNP gain from the Conservatives.^[17] Independent councillor Ben Thompson resigned from the council in November 2021 and Tom Heggie, also an independent councillor, died in February 2022 which left vacancies on the council which would not be filled as they occurred less than six months before the election.^{[18] [19]}

	Party	2017 result	Final composition
	Independents	28	28
	SNP	22	19
	Conservative	10	10
	Liberal Democrats	10	11
	Labour	3	3
	Green	1	1

Notes

Retiring councillors

Of the 72 sitting councillors before the election, 30 did not stand for re-election. Additionally, four councillors contested different wards from the ones they previously represented. With four sitting councillors defeated at the polls, only 38 sitting councillors were re-elected in 2022.

Ward	Party		Retiring councillor
North, West and Central Sutherland		SNP	Kirsteen Currie
		Liberal Democrats	Linda Munro
Thurso and North West Caithness		Conservative	Donnie Mackay
Wick and East Caithness		Liberal Democrats	Jill Tilt
East Sutherland and Edderton		Labour	Deirdre Mackay
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh		SNP	Ian Cockburn
			Alexander MacInnes
		Conservative	Derek MacLeod
Cromarty Firth		Independent	Mike Finlayson
			Carolyn Wilson
Dingwall and Seaforth		Independent	Alister MacKinnon
Black Isle		Liberal Democrats	Gordon Adam
		Independent	Jennifer Barclay
		SNP	Craig Fraser
Eilean a' Cheò		Independent	John Gordon
			Calum MacLeod
Caol and Mallaig		Independent	Allan Henderson
		Liberal Democrats	Denis Rixson
Aird and Loch Ness		Independent	Helen Carmichael
			Margaret Davidson
Inverness Central		Independent	Janet Campbell
		SNP	Emma Roddick
Inverness Ness-side		Conservative	Callum Smith
Inverness Millburn		Labour	Jimmy Gray
Culloden and Ardersier		Independent	Roddy Balfour
Nairn and Cawdor		Independent	Liz MacDonald
		Conservative	Peter Saggers
Inverness South		Liberal Democrats	Carolyn Caddick
Fort William and Ardnamurchan		SNP	Blair Allan
			Niall McLean

^[2]

Proposed boundary changes

Following the passing of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, a review of the boundaries was undertaken in North Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, Highland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. The Act allowed single- or two-member wards to be created to provide better representation of island communities. New ward boundaries were proposed by Boundaries Scotland in 2021 which would have reduced the number of wards by one to 20 and the number of councillors by one to 73. The proposals would have made no changes to the boundaries or numbers of councillors in Cromarty Firth; Fort William and Ardnamurchan; Nairn and Cawdor and Thurso and North West Caithness. The boundaries in Eilean a' Cheò and North, West and Central Sutherland would have remained the same but the numbers of councillors would have been reduced from four to three and from three to two respectively. Further changes would have seen four new wards created in Inverness, with the total number of councillors representing the city rising from 16 to 18 while Caol and Mallaig would have been renamed Caol, Mallaig and the Small Isles to recognise the island communities within the ward. Boundaries Scotland said the changes would "create more recognisable ward boundaries by Inverness, Tain and Knoydart" and "better align with the historical Caithness–Sutherland county boundary". However, the proposals in Highland were rejected by the Scottish Parliament and the 21 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 remained in place.^{[20] [21]}

Candidates

The total number of candidates fell from 166 in 2017 to 142. The election again saw the number of independent candidates outstrip the number selected by any political party as 40 stood for election – down from 61 in 2017. However, this was less than half the number which had regularly contested elections in Highland since the local government reforms in the 1990s which peaked at 108 in 2003 – the last election before the introduction of STV. The SNP fielded more candidates than any other political party at 23 – down from the 32 fielded at the previous election – but they did not contest every ward as they had in 2017. Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives contested every ward and stood 21 candidates each as they did in 2017. Labour stood 14 candidates – down from 18 – while the Greens stood 11 candidates – up from eight – and the Libertarians stood two candidates – up from one in 2017. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) stood a candidate for the first time since 2012. For the first time, the Alba Party (four), the Scottish Family Party (one), the Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) (one) and the Freedom Alliance (one) stood candidates in a Highland election. Neither the Scottish Socialist Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) nor the Scottish Christian Party, which had all contested the 2017 elections, stood any candidates.^[2]

Uncontested seats

After nominations closed on 30 March 2022, there were not enough candidates in Caol and Mallaig to require an election: three candidates stood for the three seats available. As a result, Green candidate Andrew Baldrey, Liberal Democrats candidate John Colin Grafton and Conservative candidate Liz Saggers were elected without a poll. This was one of a number of uncontested wards across Scotland, with a total of 18 councillors automatically elected. Despite their candidate being elected without a poll, the lack of interest in standing for election was called a "threat to local democracy" by the Greens. During the 2017 local elections in Scotland, just three council wards were uncontested, but votes were held in every ward in both 2007 and 2012 – the first elections to use multi-member wards and the Single transferable vote. Public disinterest in standing for election to local councils has been linked to the "ridiculous" size of some local authorities and the low pay councillors receive for their work.^{[22] [23] [24]}

Results

Source: ^[25]

Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils.^{[26] [27]}

Ward summary

|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs! %!Cllrs!rowspan=2|Total
Cllrs|- class="unsortable" align="center"!colspan=2|SNP!colspan=2|Independent!colspan=2|Lib Dem!colspan=2|Conservative!colspan=2|Green!colspan=2|Labour!colspan=2|Others|-|align="left"|North, West and Central Sutherland|bgcolor="#efe146"|35.1|bgcolor="#efe146"|1|17.3|1|28.1|1|11.0|0|colspan="2" |3.9|0|4.6|0|3|-|align="left"|Thurso and North West Caithness|18.4|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|36.2|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|1|27.5|1|17.9|1|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Wick and East Caithness|25.3|1|23.3|1|bgcolor="#ffa500"|29.8|bgcolor="#ffa500"|1|15.1|1|colspan="2" |6.5|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|East Sutherland and Edderton|26.5|1|19.0|1|bgcolor="#ffa500"|35.8|bgcolor="#ffa500"|1|17.0|0|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |1.6|0|3|-|align="left"|Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh|bgcolor="#efe146"|41.1|bgcolor="#efe146"|2|28.7|1|12.9|0|17.3|1|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Cromarty Firth|29.1|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|29.2|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|2|27.9|1|6.7|0|2.9|0|4.2|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Tain and Easter Ross|30.6|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|37.3|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|1|21.5|1|10.6|0|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |colspan="2" |3|-|align="left"|Dingwall and Seaforth|bgcolor="#efe146"|32.2|bgcolor="#efe146"|1|28.0|2|16.7|1|14.0|0|4.5|0|4.7|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Black Isle|24.9|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|26.3|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|1|15.7|1|14.8|0|13.3|0|5.2|0|colspan="2" |3|-|align="left"|Eilean a' Cheò|22.6|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|56.1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|2|3.5|0|10.7|1|colspan="2" |3.5|0|3.7|0|4|-|align="left"|Caol and Mallaig|colspan="2" |colspan="2" ||1||1||1|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |3|-|align="left"|Aird and Loch Ness|26.2|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|31.0|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|1|6.6|0|21.1|1|10.2|1|4.9|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Inverness West|31.2|1|8.1|0|bgcolor="#ffa500"|34.2|bgcolor="#ffa500"|1|9.3|0|7.5|1|8.4|0|1.3|0|3|-|align="left"|Inverness Central|bgcolor="#efe146"|41.3|bgcolor="#efe146"|2|5.1|0|6.4|0|12.8|0|7.5|0|24.1|1|2.8|0|3|-|align="left"|Inverness Ness-side|29.2|1|5.6|0|bgcolor="#ffa500"|44.5|bgcolor="#ffa500"|1|8.7|0|5.2|0|6.4|1|0.4|0|3|-|align="left"|Inverness Millburn|bgcolor="#efe146"|40.8|bgcolor="#efe146"|1|colspan="2" |23.8|1|21.6|1|colspan="2" |13.9|0|colspan="2" |3|-|align="left"|Culloden and Ardersier|bgcolor="#efe146"|37.6|bgcolor="#efe146"|1|15.9|1|15.3|1|17.9|0|colspan="2" |10.1|0|3.3|0|3|-|align="left"|Nairn and Cawdor|27.2|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|43.9|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|2|10.5|0|16.2|1|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |2.2|0|4|-|align="left"|Inverness South|bgcolor="#efe146"|35.2|bgcolor="#efe146"|1|24.8|1|8.6|1|16.9|1|5.4|0|7.3|0|1.9|0|4|-|align="left"|Badenoch and Strathspey|22.7|1|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|38.4|bgcolor="#c0c0c0"|2|8.8|0|15.6|1|10.3|0|4.2|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Fort William and Ardnamurchan|33.5|1|9.3|1|bgcolor="#ffa500"|37.5|bgcolor="#ffa500"|1|10.1|0|9.6|1|colspan="2" |colspan="2" |4|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom"!align="left"|Total!30.1!22!25.6!21!19.7!15!14.6!10!4.0!4!5.0!2!1.0!0!74|}

Source: ^[25]

Seats changing hands

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.

Seats changing hands

Seat	2017			2022
	Party		Member	Party		Member
Thurso and North West Caithness		Independent	Donnie MacKay		Liberal Democrats	Ron Gunn
Wick and East Caithness		Independent	Nicola Sinclair		Liberal Democrats	Jan McEwan
East Sutherland and Edderton		Labour	Deirdre MacKay		SNP	Leslie-anne Niven
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh		Liberal Democrats	Kate Stephen		SNP	Chris Birt
Cromarty Firth		SNP	Maxine Smith		Liberal Democrats	Molly Nolan
Eilean a' Cheò		Independent	John Gordon		Conservative	Ruraidh Stewart
Caol and Mallaig		SNP	Billy MacLachlan		Green	Andrew Baldrey
		Independent	Allan Henderson		Liberal Democrats	John Colin Grafton
			Ben Thompson		Conservative	Liz Saggers
Aird and Loch Ness		Independent	Helen Carmichael		Green	Chris Ballance
Inverness West		Independent	Graham Ross		Green	Ryan MacKintosh
Inverness Central		Independent	Janet Campbell		SNP	Kate MacLean
Inverness Ness-side		Conservative	Callum Smith		Labour	Andrew MacKintosh
Inverness Millburn		Labour	Jimmy Gray		Liberal Democrats	David Gregg
Badenoch and Strathspey		Green	Pippa Hadley		Independent	Russell Jones
Fort William and Ardnamurchan		SNP	Niall McLean		Green	Kate Willis
		Conservative	Ian Ramon		Liberal Democrats	Angus MacDonald

Notes

Ward results

North, West and Central Sutherland

The SNP, the Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Hugh Morrison retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Thurso and North West Caithness

The SNP, the Conservatives and independent candidate Matthew Reiss retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from former independent councillor Donnie MacKay. In 2017, Donnie MacKay was elected as an independent candidate but later joined the Conservatives.^[7] He did not stand for re-election.

Wick and East Caithness

The SNP, the Conservatives and independent candidate A. I. Willie MacKay retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from independent councillor Nicola Sinclair.

East Sutherland and Edderton

The Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Jim McGillivray retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from Labour.

Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh

The SNP, the Conservatives and independent candidate Biz Campbell retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Cromarty Firth

The SNP held one of their two seats and the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from the SNP. Independent candidate Pauline Munro also retained the seat she had won at the previous election and their remained two independents after Maxine Morley-Smith was re-elected as an independent candidate. In 2017, Cllr Smith – as she was known at the time – was elected as an SNP candidate and later resigned from the party

Tain and Easter Ross

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Alasdair Rhind gained a seat from independent candidate Fiona Robertson. Cllr Rhind was previously elected to represent the ward following a by-election in 2017 triggered by the resignation of former Liberal Democrat councillor Jamie Stone.^[10]

Dingwall and Seaforth

The SNP, the Liberal Democrats and independent candidate Margaret Paterson retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Sean Edward Kennedy gained a seat from former independent councillor Alister MacKinnon.

Black Isle

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Sarah Atkin gained a seat from former independent councillor Jennifer Barclay.

Eilean a' Cheò

The SNP and independent candidate John Finlayson retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives and independent candidate Calum Munro gained seats from former independent councillors John Gordon and Ronald McDonald. Cllr Munro was previously elected to represent the ward following a by-election in 2020 triggered by the resignation of former independent councillor Ronald McDonald.^[14]

Caol and Mallaig

The Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and the Greens were elected unopposed. This resulted in gains from the SNP and former independent councillors Allan Henderson and Ben Thompson.

Aird and Loch Ness

The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Greens and independent candidate David Fraser gained seats from independent former councillors Margaret Davidson and Helen Carmichael. Cllr Fraser was previously elected to represent the ward following a by-election in 2021 triggered by the death of former Conservative councillor George Cruikshank.^[15]

Inverness West

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Greens gained a seat from former independent councillor Graham Ross.

Inverness Central

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained a seat from former independent councillor Janet Campbell.

Inverness Ness-side

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour gained a seat from the Conservatives. In 2017, Ron MacWilliam was elected as an SNP candidate. He stood as an independent candidate in 2022.^[25]

Inverness Millburn

The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from Labour.

Culloden and Ardersier

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Morven Reid gained a seat from former independent councillor Roddy Balfour.

Nairn and Cawdor

The SNP, the Conservatives and independent councillor Laurie Fraser retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Michael Green gained a seat from former independent councillor Tom Heggie.

Inverness South

The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and independent councillor Duncan MacPherson retained they seats they had won at the previous election.

Badenoch and Strathspey

The SNP, the Conservatives and independent councillor Bill Lobban retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Russell Jones gained a seat from the Greens.

Fort William and Ardnamurchan

The SNP retained one of the two seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and independent candidate Thomas MacLennan gained seats from the SNP, the Conservatives and former independent councillor Andrew Baxter.

Aftermath

For the first time, a political party won the most seats in a Highland Council election. The SNP maintained the 22 seats they had won at the previous election – enough to leapfrog the total number of independent councillors elected which fell from 28 to 21.^[25] As a result, the SNP group formed a coalition with independent councillors to run the council. SNP group leader, Cllr Raymond Bremner, was elected as council leader - the first person from Caithness and the first fluent Gaelic speaker to hold the role – while independent group leader Cllr Bill Lobban was elected as convener.^[28]

Conservative councillor Andrew Jarvie resigned from the party to sit as an independent in December 2022 following a row over Avonlea Children's Home in Wick. He stated his desire to setup his own unionist political group.^[29] Cllr Jarvie and four other independent councillors – namely Cllrs Duncan MacPherson, Maxine Morley-Smith, Matthew Reiss and Jim McGillivray – formed a new political group known as the Highlands Alliance in October 2023.^[30]

In February 2024, SNP councillor Karl Rosie resigned from the party to sit as an independent citing the party's "incoherent independence strategy" and Conservative councillor Patrick Logue defected to the Liberal Democrats.^[31] Cllr Rosie later joined the Alba Party in March 2024.

2023 Tain and Easter Ross by-election

Tain and Easter Ross Liberal Democrat councillor Sarah Rawlings resigned in June 2023.^[32] A by-election was held on 28 September 2023 with independent Maureen Ross elected.^[33] Cllr Ross has joined the Highland Independent grouping on the council.^[34]

Inverness South by-election

Inverness South Liberal Democrat councillor Colin Aitken resigned in February 2024.^[35] A by-election held on 11 April 2024 was won by independent candidate Duncan Cameron McDonald.^[36]

2024 Tain and Easter Ross by-election

A second Tain and Easter Ross by-election of the term was called following the death of independent councillor Alasdair Rhind.^[37] The election was held on 13 June 2024 and was won by independent candidate Laura Dundas.^[38]

Inverness Central by-election

Councillor Bet McAllister has announced her intention to retire in June 2024.^[39] A by-election will follow.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Highland Council . BBC News . 5 May 2017 . 25 March 2024 . 11 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230411153649/https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cmj34zmwx80t/highland-council.
2. Web site: Local Elections Archive Project - 2017 - Highland . Andrew . Teale . 25 March 2024.
3. Web site: Independent, Lib Dem, Labour coalition to run Highland . BBC News . 10 May 2017 . 6 April 2022.
4. Web site: Notice of Election . The Highland Council . 14 March 2022 . 7 April 2022.
5. News: Isle of Skye councillor found guilty of abuse charge . dead . 26 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180326064214/http://www.whfp.com/2018/03/16/isle-of-skye-councillor-found-guilty-of-abuse-charge/ . West Highland Free Press . 16 March 2018 . 25 March 2018.
6. Web site: Three SNP councillors step down from party citing deep divisions within the Highland group . Press and Journal . Susy . MacAulay . 17 September 2020 . 5 April 2022.
7. News: Veteran Highland councillor quits administration to join the Tories . Ross-shire Journal . 16 June 2018 . 5 April 2022.
8. Web site: Highland Council independent group kicks out councillor for being 'too independent' . Inverness Courier . Scott . MacLennan . 3 July 2020 . 5 April 2022.
9. Web site: Bitter row as SNP councillor resigns from party group . dead . 20 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170920011442/http://www.highland-news.co.uk:80/News/Bitter-row-as-SNP-councillor-resigns-from-party-group-07092017.htm . Highland News . 7 September 2017 . 25 March 2018.
10. Web site: Alasdair Rhind re-elected for Tain and Easter Ross . Press and Journal . Michelle . Henderson . 30 September 2017 . 5 April 2022.
11. Web site: Liberal Democrat Denis Rixson wins Highland Council by-election . Press and Journal . Scott . MacLennan . 7 April 2018 . 5 April 2022.
12. Web site: SNP notch up victory over Tories in Highland by-election battle . Press and Journal . Susy . MacAulay . 8 December 2018 . 5 April 2022.
13. Web site: SNP candidate Emma Roddick wins Inverness Central ward by-election to become new Highland councillor . Inverness Courier . Scott . MacLennan . 15 November 2019 . 5 April 2022.
14. Web site: Calum Munro elected to serve Skye and Raasay as Independent councillor . Press and Journal . Susy . MacAulay . 13 March 2020 . 5 April 2022.
15. Web site: Independent candidate David Fraser is elected to represent the vacant Highland Council seat in super-close contest . Ross-shire Journal . Scott . MacLennan . 12 March 2021 . 5 April 2022.
16. Web site: Liberal Democrats delight at winning twin Highland Council by-elections as newly elected Councillor Colin Aitken becomes the second youngest member . Inverness Courier . Scott . MacLennan . 13 August 2021 . 5 April 2022.
17. Web site: Sarah is ready to roll out the welcome mat after by-election victory . The Oban Times . Fiona . Scott . 7 December 2021 . 5 April 2022.
18. Web site: Lochaber councillor Ben Thompson announces resignation . Press and Journal . Nicola . Sinclair . 27 October 2021 . 5 April 2022.
19. Web site: Highland Council colleagues pay tribute to 'a man of kindness and courage' Tom Heggie . Ross-shire Journal . Donald . Wilson . 24 February 2022 . 5 April 2022.
20. Web site: 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements. Boundaries Scotland. 3 January 2022.
21. Web site: Review of Electoral Arrangements The Highland Council Area Final Proposals . Boundaries Scotland . May 2021 . 4 April 2022.
22. Web site: 'Threat to local democracy' as councillors elected without votes . The National . Anita . Bhadani . 31 March 2022 . 3 April 2022.
23. Web site: Eighteen councillors already elected in Scotland's local elections . The Herald . Andrew . Learmonth . 31 March 2022 . 3 April 2022.
24. Web site: 18 councillors are already elected ahead of May vote – here's why you should be alarmed . The Press and Journal . Justin . Bowie . Andy . Philip . 1 April 2022 . 3 April 2022.
25. Web site: Highland Council 2022 . Allan . Faulds . Ballot Box Scotland . 27 March 2024.
26. Web site: The Local STV Voting System Explained . Allan . Faulds . Ballot Box Scotland . 24 October 2022.
27. Web site: Single Transferable Vote . Electoral Reform Society . 24 October 2022.
28. Web site: SNP-independent coalition control Highland Council . BBC . 26 May 2022 . 31 March 2024.
29. Web site: New political group at Highland Council aims to put constituents 'first and foremost' . Strathspey and Badenoch Herald . Scott . MacLennan . 25 October 2023 . 17 May 2024 . registration.
30. Web site: Councillor Andrew Jarvie quits Conservative group over Wick care home row . John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier . Scott . MacLennan . 14 December 2022 . 17 May 2024 . registration.
31. Web site: LibDems at Highland Council get a boost as Patrick Logue joins the group . Ross-shire Journal . Scott . MacLennan . 26 February 2024 . 17 May 2024 . registration.
32. Web site: Resignation of Ross-shire councillor in Tain ward triggers by-election timetable . Ross-shire Journal . 7 October 2023.
33. Web site: The Highland Council By-Election Election of Councillor Ward 7 – Tain and Easter Ross . The Highland Council . 2 September 2023.
34. Web site: Councillors . The Highland Council . 7 October 2023.
35. Web site: Inverness South Liberal Democrat Councillor Colin Aitken resigns from Highland Council . Inverness Courier . Scott . MacLennon . 12 February 2024 . 12 April 2024.
36. Web site: Independent wins seat from LibDems in Inverness by-election . The National . Steph . Brawn . 12 April 2024 . 21 July 2024.
37. Web site: ‘Heartbreaking’: Tributes flood in following sudden death of popular Highland councillor Alasdair Rhind . Philip . Murray . Ross-shire Journal . 4 April 2024 . 21 July 2024.
38. Web site: Tain and Easter Ross by-election result . Gregor . White . Ross-shire Journal . 14 June 2024 . 21 July 2024.
39. Web site: Inverness Central Councillor Bet McAllister to retire in June after 17 years . The Inverness Courier . 3 May 2024.