Councillor Amber Dunbar: When people come to Moray they don't want to leave

The Conservative councillor for Elgin City North says there’s much more to Moray than meets the eye

Describe the area you represent in one sentence It’s an area that people might not necessarily think to come to but once they’re here they don’t want to leave. We have a big military community here, and I know so many people who have come to the air force and retired here or left the air force and stayed here. My boyfriend’s family are the same.

How long have you lived there? I was born at Dr Gray’s Hospital and grew up in the town. Other than a three-year stint at university in London, where I was homesick and constantly travelling home, I’ve lived here my whole life. I studied politics and international relations but never intended to get into it, it was just what I loved. At school my favourite subject was modern studies.

Tell us something we won’t know about your local area Hundreds of years ago it was probably one of the most important areas of Scotland and a residence of many early monarchs because they liked hunting in the forests near the town. Our cathedral was an architectural gem known as the ‘lantern of the north’. The Wolf of Badenoch burnt it down.

Who is the best-known person from your area? There’s the actor Kevin McKidd, former prime minister Ramsay MacDonald was born in the next town, and Alexander Graham Bell lived here for a while and taught at the local college.

What challenges are unique to your particular part of the country? Being quite far north and relatively rural does bring its challenges. We don’t have a motorway or anything like that, so we don’t have great infrastructure. That leads to a lot of unique issues. We struggle to keep young people in the area – I thought I wanted to leave and it turned out I didn’t, but a lot of young people do which is a shame because there’s a lot of opportunity here. There’s a lot of tourism here but it can feel that we are a pit-stop en route to the North Coast 500 rather than a destination.  

What made you stand for election? I genuinely never intended to get into politics. I finished university and was applying for private sector jobs and was struggling because I didn’t have any experience working in an office, so I emailed Douglas Ross and said “can I volunteer in your office while I job hunt?” I ended up doing that for a long time and I loved working with the public. It felt like a natural step when an opportunity came up to stand locally.

What’s the one thing Holyrood politicians could do that would be of greatest benefit to the area you represent? Improving the transport infrastructure would be of huge benefit. Dualling the A96 and A9 would improve life here for so many people. It’s something that’s been spoken about for so long. It’s the first political issue I remember, from when I was about seven. It’s so badly needed. I’m an optimist but I question if I’ll see it happen in my lifetime, and I’m 29.

What’s the best bit about living where you do? There’s so much natural beauty on the doorstep – a couple of miles down the road and you’re at the sea or in the mountains. My friends are all here, my family is here, and the community is very friendly. I’ve had some people come up to me in the shops saying some really nice things and it’s nice to know you’re making a difference.

Is there a particular word you love using that only people in your part of the country would recognise? It’s not just Elgin, more the north east, but it’s ‘buttery’. I didn’t realise for a long time that it was a local thing, and I was in England when I was about 13, went into a bakery and asked for a buttery and they looked at me like I was speaking an alien language. When I was at university my dad would send down packages of them. 

If you could live anywhere else where would it be? I don’t see myself permanently leaving but if I had to I’d say Hawaii. I was lucky enough to go to my stepsister’s wedding there.