 | 'The victory is the SNP's first local government gain in more then two years. SNP standard-bearer Peter Farquharson came first in a five strong field and Angus Robertson, local SNP Member of Parliament, was justifiably pleased saying that 'It was a very good result for the Party in Moray.' Cllr Dr John Hulbert in the Scots Independent, September 2004. |  |
A by-election was held in Speyside on the 12 th August 2004 following the resignation of jailed Independent Council Convener Eddie Aldridge.
Speyside is in the Moray Westminster parliamentary seat (held by the Scottish National Party's Angus Robertson MP) and in the Moray Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Scottish National Party Margaret Ewing MSP).
Scottish National Party gain from Independent.
| 12 th August 2004 By-election Turnout 35.7 % (- 24.7 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter S. Farquharson |  |
Scottish National Party | 286 | 30.8 % | + 4.0 % |
| Andrina M. C. Taylor |  |
Independent | 244 | 26.3 % | (+ 26.3 %) |
| Gordon T. Henderson | |
Independent | 187 | 20.1 % | (+ 20.1 %) |
| David Anderson |  |
Conservative | 121 | 13.0 % | (+ 13.0 %) |
| Matthew Desmond | |
Independent | 91 | 9.8 % | (+ 9.8 %) |
| Scottish National Party gain from Independent | |
Scottish National Party majority | 42 | 4.5 % | |
| 1 st May 2003 Turnout 60.0 % (- 3.4 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr Edward Alderidge | |
Independent | 982 | 73.2 % | - 4.8 % |
| Peter S. Farquharson | |
Scottish National Party | 360 | 26.8 % | + 4.8 % |
| Independent hold | |
Independent majority | 622 | 46.4 % | - 9.6 % |
| 6 th May 1999 Turnout 63.4 % (+ 13.1 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr Edward Alderidge | |
Independent | 1,241 | 78.0 % | + 26.4 % |
| Karen Braithwaite | |
Scottish National Party | 350 | 22.0 % | - 22.1 % |
| Independent hold | |
Independent majority | 891 | 56.0 % | + 48.5 |
| 6 th April 1995 Turnout 50.2 % | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Alderidge | |
Independent | 851 | 51.6 % | |
| Pearl Paul | |
Scottish National Party | 728 | 44.1 % | |
| Elizabeth Cameron |  |
Liberal Democrat | 71 | 4.3 % | |
| Independent win | |
Independent majority | 123 | 7.5 % | |
Moray councillors have said they are standing by their leader after it was revealed he is being investigated by fraud squad detectives.
Council convener Eddie Aldridge is to be questioned about a will which was allegedly rewritten in his favour 13 days before the death of a 93-year-old woman.
Mary Coutts, a retired farmer who lived in the village of Archiestown near Aberlour in Banffshire, died in January.
It is reported that she left almost all of her £98,000 estate to Cllr Aldridge, who represents the Speyside ward.
This included a 39-acre farm and about £6,000 in savings.
The will is being questioned by Mrs Coutts' niece, who has taken the matter to Grampian Police.
A spokeswoman for the force confirmed inquiries are underway.
She said a number of search warrants had been executed on residential and commercial premises in the Moray area.
Mr Aldridge's vice-convener, Councillor Bill Jappy, said the affair was private and not council business.
Fellow Councillor Alistair Bisset said he was startled by the reports, but was quite sure it would not become a resignation issue.
Mr Aldridge has been unavailable for comment.
A North East council convener has admitted forging a widow's will just days before she died making him the main beneficiary. Disgraced Moray Council Convener Eddie Aldridge admitted the fraud at Elgin Sheriff Court, so he would benefit from his neighbour's one hundred thousand pound estate.
Moray Council convener Eddie Aldridge pleaded guilty at Elgin sheriff court this morning to forging his elderly neighbour's will in his favour in two thousand and two.
Ninety-three year old Mary Coutts died nine days later leaving Aldridge the main beneficiary of her one hundred thousand pound estate, which included a croft, six thousand pounds of savings and thirty-nine acres of land.
The involvement of Aldridge, a sixty-four year old farmer, was uncovered during a police investigation launched after the woman's family made a complaint. During the nine month inquiry police raided his home and his convener's office at Moray Council in Elgin and seized computers and files.
Until his court appearance, Aldridge had maintained the charges against him were 'groundless'. A councillor for thirty years Aldridge has now stepped down as convener of Moray Council but only until he is sentenced.
But political opponents are calling for his full resignation saying his position is untenable. In a statement Moray Council said it was aware the convener had lodged a guilty plea and the situation would be reviewed after sentence.
Charges against two co-accused were dropped by the Crown. Sentence was deferred until the twenty-third of June for background reports, Aldridge couldn't be contacted today either at his home or at Moray Council.
Moray Council have appointed a new convener. Councillor Eddie Coutts takes over from Eddie Aldridge, who resigned in disgrace earlier this month.
Aldridge quit after he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court and admitted forging the will of a widow just days before she died. He's due to be sentenced this week. The new convener was among a number of apppointments announced by the council at a special meeting today.
A former North-east council convener who admitted forging a widow's will just day's before she died has been jailed for eighteen months. Disgraced Moray councillor Eddie Aldridge was sentenced at Elgin Sheriff Court this morning.
Eddie Aldridge resigned as convener of Moray Council the day after he admitted forging his elderly neighbour's will in his favour.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard earlier this month that ninety-three year old Mary Coutts died nine days later leaving Aldridge the main beneficiary of her one hundred thousand pound estate. It included a croft, six thousand pounds of savings and thirty-nine acres of land.
The involvement of sixty-four year old Aldridge, a well-respected farmer, was uncovered during a police investigation launched after the woman's family made a complaint.
A councillor of more than thirty years he was honoured with an OBE eight years ago for services to local government.
Following his guilty plea he stood down as council convener, the second time he'd been elected to the position. Sentence was deferred until today for background reports.
Aldridge's defence counsel said he hadn't done it for personal gain. But jailing him Sheriff Donald Booker Milburn told him: "he couldn't accept there was no personal gain intended."
Just over a week after its former leader was jailed for fraud, Moray Council is again in the glare of the spotlight. This time planning decisions made by councillors, including disgraced former convenor Eddie Aldridge, are under question.
Not everything was blooming at the Head quarters of Moray Council today. The council has been on the recieving end of complaints about planning applications which have been passed by the council's planning authority, the environmental services committee when officials recommended that permission should be refused.
The committee's influential chairman was Eddie Aldridge, now serving 18 months in jail. Now there are calls fopr the council to take an in-depth look back at its own procedures. Bob Graham has been a long term critic of the committee and its convenor.
No-one at Moray Council would be interview but the council issued a statement saying that five questions have been raisied recently about planning consent: "The decisions which have been question are committee decisions and not the decisions of any one individual. In the one instance where wrong doing was alleged the matter referred to Grampian Police was unsubstantaited and they took no further action."
It all adds up to a serious image problem for the council. And there could be more problems ahead. Meanwhile Moray Council says it will continue to co-operate fully with legitimate concerns about the activities of its councillors.
THE SCOTTISH National Party was celebrating yesterday after winning the five-cornered by-election battle for the seat on Moray Council, once held by the authorityÕs disgraced convener, Eddie Aldridge.
Peter Farquharson, 64, a tenant farmer and agricultural contractor from Ballindalloch, was elected as the new councillor for Speyside with a 31 per cent share of the vote.
The by-election was declared after Aldridge, 64, who had represented the people of Speyside for 30 years, resigned from the council after being jailed for 18 months for forging an elderly womanÕs will, days before she died.
The by-election was contested by Mr Farquharson, three Independents and a Conservative candidate. Mr Farquharson polled 286 votes to secure a 42-vote majority over Andrina Taylor, one of the independents.
Gordon Henderson, the candidate representing Moray CouncilÕs ruling Independent administration, came third with 187 votes. Conservative David Anderson polled 121 votes, and the other Independent, Matthew Desmond, came last with 91 votes.
The Independents remain in firm control of the council with 15 seats. Labour has five seats, the Tories and Liberal Democrats one each.
There's been a spate of by-elections for Council seats recently and the SNP has had some successes.
On August 12 we won a Council ward in Speyside, in Moray Council area, which was caused by the resignation of jailed 'Independent' Council Convener Eddie Aldridge. The victory is the SNP's first local government gain in more then two years. SNP standard-bearer Peter Farquharson came first in a five strong field and Angus Robertson, local SNP Member of Parliament, was justifiably pleased saying that 'It was a very good result for the Party in Moray. Peter Farquharson stood on a manifesto putting local communities and people first. I'm sure he will make an excellent councillor.'
On August 19 there were two Council By-elections in Clackmannan Council area. One Š in Tillicoultry - was caused by our own SNP Councillor resigning and the other - in Menstrie - was caused by the resignation of a Labour Councillor. The SNP's Janis Paterson recaptured the Menstrie seat which had been lost in last year's main polls and local SNP activist Helen McGregor won the ward of Tillicoultry West. These were good results and another welcome boost to our local government representation.
During the last three weeks I, as part of the activist team and with the Candidate Margaret Fox, have been knocking doors, collecting signatures on a petition and delivering leaflets in Bothwell where voters go to the polls on 26 August so the result will be known before you read this. It's been hard work and good fun and we've spoken to a lot of people about the SNP but I think it's a 'don't hold your breath' situation for us.
The interesting thing is that while canvassing round the doors and in the streets we've been using a petition seeking support for the SNP policy of a Local Income Tax to replace the Council Tax and getting a lot of signatures. The late Councillor for the ward was Labour and over the years the Tories and LibDems have each had a shot of being Councillor. Historically the SNP have not been challenging them as strongly as we should have done. But the people who signed our petition were genuine in their belief that the Council Tax was unfair and that a Local Income Tax was the fair way to replace it. I believe that this campaign could be really effective if we push it at every level.
Shamed former Moray Council convener Eddie Aldridge says he's learned his lesson and deeply regrets forging the will of a trusted neighbour. The once high-profile local politician and Justice of the Peace has been speaking exclusively to North Tonight following his release today from jail in Inverness.
A taste of freedom. Disgraced former Moray Council convener Eddie Aldridge today on one of his farms at his home village of Archiestown. A few hours earlier he had been in Porterfield Prison in Inverness having served nine months of an eighteen months sentence for forging the will of an elderly neighbour Mary Coutts just days before she died.
Last June Elgin Sheriff Court heard if the fraud had been successful Aldridge would have inherited a one hundred thousand pounds estate including a croft, six thousand pounds in savings and thirty-nine acres of land. But the scam was blown when Mrs Coutts' niece Lesley Miles reported the matter to the police.
Aldridge pled guilty, his defence counsel said he hadn't done it for personal gain and was concerned the property was being sold against Mrs Coutt's wishes. Today Aldridge said he had learned his lesson and expressed regret.
A councillor for thirty years honoured with an OBE Aldridge says he spent most of his time in jail on administrative duties. Now he says it's time to take stock of his future heartened by the amount of public support he's received.
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