Ardrossan and Arran was one of the 10 wards used to elect members of North Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007 following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, the ward elected three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a four-member ward, Ardrossan and Arran was reduced in size following a boundary review ahead of the 2017 election. As a result of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, the ward was abolished in 2022.
| Ardrossan and Arran | |
|---|---|
| North Ayrshire | |
 Boundary of Ardrossan and Arran in North Ayrshire from 2017–2022. | |
| Electorate | 9,622 (2017) |
| Major settlements | Ardrossan Brodick |
| Scottish Parliament constituency | Cunninghame North |
| Scottish Parliament region | West Scotland |
| UK Parliament constituency | North Ayrshire and Arran |
| 2007–2022 | |
| Number of councillors | 3 |
| Replaced by | Ardrossan Arran |
| Created from | Ardrossan North Ardrossan South Arran Saltcoats North South Beach |
The ward was a Scottish National Party (SNP) stronghold with the party holding at least half the seats between 2012 and 2021.
Boundaries
editThe ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Ardrossan was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained part of the former Ardrossan North, Saltcoats North and South Beach wards as well as all of the former Ardrossan South and Arran wards. The ward centred around the town of Ardrossan and the Isle of Arran and included a number of smaller islands in the Firth of Clyde including the Holy Isle and the uninhabited Pladda and Horse Isle.[1] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward was reduced in size from a four-member ward to a three-member ward as an area in the northeast of Ardrossan was transferred to the newly created Saltcoats ward.[2]
In 2018, the Scottish Parliament passed the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 which included provisions to improve the representation of island communities on councils. As a result, an intermediate review of the boundaries in North Ayrshire was carried out. This proposed that Ardrossan and Arran be split in two with a single-member Arran ward re-established and a slightly enlarged three-member Ardrossan ward created. The proposals for North Ayrshire were subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament and the ward was abolished in 2022.[3][4]
Councillors
edit| Year | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Tony Gurney (SNP) |
Peter McNamara (Labour) |
Margie Currie (Ind.) |
John Hunter (Ind.) | ||||
| 2012 | John Bruce (SNP) | |||||||
| 2017 | Timothy Billings (Conservative) |
Ellen McMaster (SNP/ Alba/ Ind.) |
||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||
| 2022 | ||||||||
Election results
edit2017 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Conservative | Timothy Billings | 27.6 | 1,309 | ||||||
| SNP | Ellen McMaster[note 1] | 19.7 | 932 | 937 | 1,000 | 1,002 | 1,034 | 1,159 | |
| SNP | Tony Gurney (incumbent) | 19.6 | 930 | 932 | 946 | 955 | 1,092 | 1,245 | |
| Labour | Clare McGuire | 13.9 | 659 | 677 | 723 | 792 | 979 | ||
| Independent | John Hunter (incumbent) | 10.6 | 503 | 517 | 534 | 627 | |||
| No Referendum Maintain Union Pro-Brexit | Gordon Allison | 5.0 | 238 | 280 | 285 | ||||
| Scottish Socialist | Colin Turbett | 3.5 | 165 | 170 | |||||
| Electorate: 9,622 Valid: 4,736 Spoilt: 123 Quota: 1,185 Turnout: 50.5% | |||||||||
2012 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| SNP | Tony Gurney (incumbent) | 17.6 | 982 | 986 | 998 | 1,033 | 1,048 | 1,081 | 1,095 | 1,149 | |
| SNP | John Bruce | 15.0 | 837 | 841 | 868 | 889 | 918 | 1,109 | 1,113 | 1,157 | |
| Independent | John Hunter (incumbent) | 14.2 | 792 | 796 | 833 | 895 | 1,025 | 1,191 | |||
| Labour | Peter McNamara (incumbent) | 12.9 | 721 | 730 | 738 | 770 | 812 | 871 | 881 | 1,414 | |
| Labour | Loretta Gardner | 11.8 | 659 | 667 | 692 | 720 | 750 | 793 | 798 | ||
| Independent | Marc A. Head | 10.5 | 588 | 595 | 609 | 620 | 714 | ||||
| Conservative | David Tate | 8.8 | 491 | 507 | 551 | 561 | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | Campbell Martin | 4.2 | 235 | 237 | 250 | ||||||
| UKIP | Gordon Niven Allison | 3.9 | 221 | 227 | |||||||
| Liberal Democrats | Nick Smith | 1.1 | 64 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 13,674 Valid: 5,590 Spoilt: 106 Quota: 1,119 Turnout: 40.9% | |||||||||||
Source: [8]
2007 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Independent | Margie Currie | 19.3 | 1,439 | 1,456 | 1,478 | 1,582 | ||||||
| SNP | Tony Gurney | 19.0 | 1,414 | 1,439 | 1,462 | 1,779 | ||||||
| Labour | Peter McNamara | 13.5 | 1,007 | 1,019 | 1,033 | 1,051 | 1,085 | 1,094 | 1,763 | |||
| Independent | John Hunter | 12.8 | 952 | 970 | 1,087 | 1,106 | 1,176 | 1,189 | 1,234 | 1,287 | 1,658 | |
| Conservative | Gordon Allison | 11.5 | 857 | 866 | 872 | 886 | 914 | 930 | 963 | 989 | ||
| Labour | Margaret Munn | 11.1 | 829 | 837 | 848 | 864 | 884 | 888 | ||||
| SNP | William McLaren | 7.7 | 573 | 589 | 597 | |||||||
| Independent | Kenneth MacDougall | 3.1 | 228 | 237 | ||||||||
| Scottish Socialist | Nigel Hunter | 1.9 | 144 | |||||||||
| Electorate: 13,448 Valid: 7,443 Spoilt: 146 Quota: 1,489 Turnout: 56.4% | ||||||||||||
Source: [9]
Notes
edit- ^ Cllr Ellen McMaster twice changed political affiliation first joining the Alba Party before becoming an independent.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ Hamilton, Andy (5 March 2022). "North Ayrshire: Changes on the way as voters get set to go to polls". Irvine Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ Jones, Jennifer (24 November 2021). "Ayrshire: Councillor Ellen McMaster leaves Alba Party". Irvine Times. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ "Declaration of Results Report Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Declaration of Results Ward 05 - Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Ardrossan and Arran Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.