Sean Morton

Not to be confused with Sean David Morton.
Sean Morton
Moray Councillor for
Fochabers Lhanbryde
In office
2012–2017
Personal details
Born1981 or 1982 (age 44–45)

Sean Morton (born 1981 or 1982) is a Scottish former politician who served as a Labour councillor for Fochabers Lhanbryde in Moray from 2012 to 2017.[1] He was the Labour candidate for Moray in the 2015 United Kingdom general election. He was convicted in 2018 of possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography, and received a community payback order.[1] He was convicted again in 2025 for further similar offences and breaching a sexual offences prevention order, resulting in a 16-month prison sentence.[2][3]

Early life and education

Sean Morton was born 1981 or 1982.[1] He attended Milne's High School in Fochabers, where he met future Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy. He studied international politics and modern languages at the University of Stirling.[3] After university, he worked as a parliamentary researcher.[3]

Political career

Morton was elected as a Labour councillor for the Fochabers Lhanbryde ward in the 2012 Moray Council election.[4][5] In December 2016, he called the newly installed Dandy Lion statue in Elgin "cultural and intellectual vomit in technicolor".[6] He served one term, before unsuccessfully restanding as an independent in 2017.[7][8]

In the 2015 UK general election, he stood as the Labour candidate for Moray but was unsuccessful, finishing third of six candidates with 9.9% of the vote.[9]

In December 2016, Morton was charged with offences related to indecent images of children, leading to his suspension from the Labour Party in January 2017.[4] He resigned from the party and ran as an independent candidate in the May 2017 local elections but was not re-elected. During his independent campaign, he received support from Labour figures including Matthew Doyle (later Lord Doyle) and Pam Duncan-Glancy.[10]

Fochabers Lhanbryde, 2012 – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Conservative Douglas Ross (incumbent) 39.5% 1,318      
SNP Margo Howe 21.82% 728 768.7 810.2 1,335
SNP Anita McDonald (incumbent) 18.34% 612 676.1 708.2  
Labour Sean Morton 15.34% 512 583.5 714.7 793.9
Liberal Democrats Peter Horton 5.0% 167 304.1    
Electorate: 7,717   Valid: 3,337   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 835   Turnout: 3,365 (43.24%)  
General election 2015: Moray[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Angus Robertson 24,384 49.5 +9.8
Conservative Douglas Ross 15,319 31.1 +5.0
Labour Sean Morton 4,898 9.9 −7.2
UKIP Robert Scorer 1,939 3.9 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Jamie Paterson 1,395 2.8 −11.7
Green James MacKessack-Leitch 1,345 2.7 New
Majority 9,065 18.4 +4.8
Turnout 49,280 68.7 +6.5
SNP hold Swing +2.4
Fochabers Lhanbryde, 2017 – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Conservative Marc Macrae 42.7 1,747            
SNP Shona Morrison 16.7 682 702 708 738 759 794 872
SNP David Bremner 17.4 711 722 729 752 760 792 862
Independent Ian Taylor 6.7 274 361 374 441 578 701  
Liberal Democrats Donald Cameron 5.2 211 318 394 445 511    
Independent Kenneth Gillespie 4.1 166 282 294 344      
Independent Sean Morton (incumbent) 5.3 215 284 289        
Liberal Democrats Peter Horton 2.0 83 142          
Electorate: 8,089   Valid: 4,089   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 1,023   Turnout: 51.4%  

Source:[13][14]

Sex offences

Morton was reported to police by a new acquaintance on 7 June 2016 and arrested at home three days later.[15] Morton first appeared in court on 24 December 2016 at Elgin Sheriff Court, charged under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 in connection with indecent images of children.[4] Images of four girls aged 10-15 dated November 2013 were found on his MacBook, and images of people having sex with a dog were found in his iTunes account.[15] In November 2017, he admitted to possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.[16] His lawyer argued in mitigation that Morton had been sexually abused as a child.[15] On 20 February 2018, he was sentenced to a community payback order requiring 140 hours of unpaid work, a three-year supervision order, and placement on the sex offenders register.[1]

In 2024, Morton breached his sexual offences prevention order. He was also found to possess further indecent photographs of children. In January 2025, at Glasgow Sheriff Court, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison, with the sentence backdated to May 2024.[2][3]

The disclosures about Morton's convictions, along with his ongoing ties to Doyle and Duncan-Glancy, led to both of them being suspended by the party in February 2026.[10][17][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Former Moray councillor Sean Morton sentenced for child images". BBC News. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Sean Morton, disgraced former Moray councillor, reportedly spent 16 months behind bars over further child pornography offences". Forres Gazette. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d "Disgraced former Moray politician Sean Morton's three-decade friendship with Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy revealed". Grampian Online. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b c "Indecent child images charge councillor Sean Morton suspended by Labour". BBC News. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  5. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Election Results 2012". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Wrangle over 'cultural vomit' statue in Elgin town centre". BBC News. 21 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 3 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 4 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Moray — Election result for Moray (Constituency) – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  10. ^ a b "Ex-Labour comms chief Lord Doyle suspended over links to sex offender". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "8Aug15" (PDF).
  13. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 3 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Transfers Report - Ward 4 - Fochabers Lhanbryde" (PDF). Moray Council. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  15. ^ a b c "Sean Morton sentenced to community service". The Northern Scot. 20 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Former Labour councillor Sean Morton admits indecent image charges". BBC News. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  17. ^ "Scottish Labour suspends MSP Pam Duncan Glancy". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  18. ^ McCurdy, Rebecca (15 January 2026). "Duncan-Glancy told to resign immediately over sex offender friendship". The Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2026.

Further reading

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