Elected unopposed and stepping up from her previous position of Deputy Leader of Orkney Islands Council, Councillor Heather Woodbridge replaces James Stockan as Leader of OIC who stepped down as an elected member on 5th February.

Councillor Woodbridge achieves a number of firsts in her election at the age of 29 on 20th of February 2024: OIC’s first female leader, its youngest Leader, and the youngest Leader of any Local Authority in Scotland.

Orkney is the smallest Local Authority in Scotland and is represented by 21 councillors, 19 of whom are ‘Independent’ and 2 are Scottish Green Party. Out of the 21 councillors only 6 are women, making the election of Councillor Woodbridge even more significant.

It will be interesting to see if having a young female Leader of OIC will bring about change and perhaps encourage more women in the islands to put themselves forward for future local elections.

Congratulating Heather Woodbridge on her election, President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) Councillor Shona Morrison said:  

“I would like to extend my congratulations to Heather Woodbridge on becoming the new Leader of Orkney Islands Council (OIC). Not only is she one of the youngest Council Leaders in Scotland, she is the first female OIC Leader, almost 50 years after the first OIC was elected.

“Heather sits on COSLA’s Barriers to Elected Office Group where she is a valued member and contributes significantly on issues like Councillors safety and has views on being a young woman in a rural ward. It is good to see her breaking down the barriers further and I wish her well in her new role and look forward to working with her starting at COSLA Leaders meeting on Friday.”

At the same meeting, Councillor Sandy Cowie was elected to the position of Deputy Leader. He won by 11 votes to 9 against Councillor Steven Heddle, Vice-President of COSLA and a previous Convenor of OIC (2012 – 2017) before the role of Leader was introduced in 2017.

Fiona Grahame