Following the May 2007 election, contested for the first time using a system of proportional representation, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a coalition to run the council, holding 27 of the 43 seats (following an SNP by-election gain from the Conservatives on 16 August 2007,);the Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition held 28 of the 43 seats).
The city council's original composition from 1995 used 43 wards while using the standard first-past-the-post voting system.
This system was introduced as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and was designed to produce a form of proportional representation.
[2] The composition of wards changed to: 4 councillors: 3 councillors: In the United Kingdom Parliament, the city is divided between two constituencies: There are three Scottish Parliament constituencies that overlap the Aberdeen City Council area in the North East Scotland electoral region: Other MSPs in the North East Scotland electoral region (but selected by the Additional Member proportional representation system, and not in constituencies overlapping Aberdeen City or the Aberdeen City Council area) are: In 2014 a referendum was held asking voters in Scotland the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
The referendum was held by the SNP administration after their victory in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election to determine whether Scotland should become an independent nation or remain a devolved part of the United Kingdom.