Political leaders will spend the weekend brokering deals as the future direction of Aberdeen City Council hangs in the balance.
The SNP – already the council’s largest group – added one more to their number in Thursday’s poll, returning 20 councillors.
But they fell short of claiming the outright majority they were aiming for, having named 23 candidates.
It leaves party chiefs in a similar position to five years ago, when the 19 SNP members were eventually kept out by an Aberdeen Labour and Conservative coalition pact.
However, the maths looks more in favour of the nationalists this time around, with close allies the Liberal Democrats gaining a seat too.
The weekend is expected to be one full of group meetings, as newly-elected councillors agree red lines and deal-breakers ahead of talks with other parties.
SNP leader Alex Nicoll told us: “The single transferable vote system is designed to create coalitions and I am sure we can go out and reach a collegiate decision that benefits the people of Aberdeen – and delivers.
“What we have to do over the weekend, and into next week, is go and speak with everyone to find out what can and can’t be agreed.
“The manifestos have been quite diverse so we need to sit down in the cold light of day following the election and have some hard political discussions.
“And I wouldn’t want to rule in or rule out any particular group at this time.”
SNP-Lib Dem coalition would boast one-councillor majority on Aberdeen council
The Liberal Democrats are expected to be most likely to pair up with the SNP, given their close work together over the last five years.
And the Lib Dems heralded progress at the polls, as they captured a seat in George Street and Harbour ward for the first time since 2007.
This takes their number to four, meaning an administration with the SNP could boast a one-person majority.
But Aberdeen group leader, Ian Yuill, was remaining coy ahead of talks.
He told The P&J: “The Liberal Democrats in Aberdeen are on the up and we are delighted.
“We took a seat in a city centre ward and our new George Street and Harbour councillor will do a cracking job in representing people in that area.
“This is the first gain we have made in many years and we look forward to working constructively with colleagues on the council over the next five years for the benefit of all of Aberdeen.
“My colleagues will meet tomorrow to discuss things more formally but our view is that councillors in Aberdeen should work together.
“At this stage, we are not ruling anything out.”
Aberdeen Labour bounce back in city council polls
A resurgent Aberdeen Labour reclaimed two seats lost in 2017 in Bridge of Don and Kingswells, Sheddocksley and Summerhill, overtaking the Conservatives as the second largest group on the council.
Jumping for nine councillors to 11, candidates claimed pledges made to reduce the cost of living had won people back.
The group is still without a head as previous council leader Jenny Laing bowed out at this election.
But a replacement is expected to be named in the coming days.
However, deputy leader Ross Grant told The P&J he “very much hopes” Labour could have an “influential position going forward within the council”.
Whether that comes from an agreement with the Conservatives, SNP or Liberal Democrats remains to be seen.
But Scottish leader Anas Sarwar ruled out formal coalitions for his councillors during the election campaign – instead vowing to seek a minority administration.
Low turnout hit Tory election results hard, Aberdeen City Council leader claims
Meanwhile, Aberdeen Conservative leader Ryan Houghton shrugged off suggestions his group’s slump from 11 to eight councillors was due to his party’s national decline.
“We will need to see,” he told us. “Turnout, I think, looks quite a bit lower than previous years.
“There will be a myriad of factors and we will need to reflect over the next days and weeks and see where we went wrong.
“But again, we went from three in 2012 to 11 in 2017 and now we have lost three hardworking and very passionate councillors.
“2017 was a high watermark. This is a still a strong team who are very committed and passionate and something to build on.”
Agreements with the two re-elected independents – Marie Boulton in Lower Deeside and Jennifer Stewart in Hazlehead, Queens Cross and Countesswells – might also prove crucial, if an SNP-Lib Dem deal cannot be done.
