Ayr North (ward)

Ayr North
South Ayrshire
Boundary of Ayr North in South Ayrshire from 2017.
Population	17,055 (2021)[1]
Electorate	12,973 (2022)
Major settlements	Ayr (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Ayr
Scottish Parliament region	South Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Central Ayrshire
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	4
Councillor	Laura Brennan-Whitefield (SNP)
Councillor	Ian Cavana (Labour)
Councillor	Ian Davis (Conservative)
Councillor	Mark Dixon (SNP)
Created from	Ayr Central Ayr Craigie Ayr Lochside Ayr Newton Ayr Whitletts Prestwick Toll

Ayr North is one of the eight electoral wards of South Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 17,055 people.

The area has been politically split between Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP) with both parties holding half the seats at various points since the ward's creation.

Boundaries

The 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 Ayr North was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards.

It contained all of the former Ayr Lochside, Ayr Newton and Ayr Whitletts wards, the southern half of the former Prestwick Toll ward, the majority of the former Ayr Cragie ward and the northwestern part of the former Ayr Central ward. The ward centres on the northern portion of the town of Ayr which is situated on the Firth of Clyde coast in the northwest of the council area. It contains everything in the town north of the River Ayr apart from an area around John Street, south of King Street and east of Craigie Road.^[2] The ward's boundaries were unchanged following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections.^[3]

Councillors

Year	Councillors
2007		Douglas Campbell (Labour/ Independent/ SNP)		Tom Slider (SNP)		John Hampton (Conservative)		Ian Cavana (Labour)
2008
2011
2012			Rita Miller (Labour)
2017			Laura Brennan-Whitefield (SNP)	Ian Davis (Conservative)
2022	Mark Dixon (SNP)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 South Ayrshire Council election

Ayr North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Laura Brennan-Whitefield (incumbent)	38.8	1,913
	Labour	Ian Cavana (incumbent)	24.0	1,185
	Conservative	Ian Davis (incumbent)	13.7	675	687	715	719	723	745	1,046
	SNP	Mark Dixon	6.9	344	1,143
	Conservative	David Paterson	6.8	336	341	349	352	354	367
	Independent	Andrew Russell	6.2	309	326	346	365	403	462	481
	Liberal Democrats	Mason Graham	1.6	80	90	137	156	172
	Alba	Denise Sommerville	1.6	79	90	94	124
Electorate: 12,973   Valid: 4,921   Spoilt: 166   Quota: 985   Turnout: 39.2%

Source: ^[4][5]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 South Ayrshire Council election

Ayr North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Conservative	Ian Davis	25.6	1,258
	SNP	Laura Brennan-Whitefield	25.5	1,256
	Labour	Ian Cavana (incumbent)	19.5	958	1,015
	SNP	Douglas Campbell (incumbent)	18.1	892	902	1,138
	Independent	Jamie McGeechan	6.1	300	363	375
	Labour	Brenda Knox	5.2	256	286	291
Electorate: 13,106   Valid: 4,920   Spoilt: 158   Quota: 985   Turnout: 39.6%

Source: ^[6][7]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 South Ayrshire Council election

Ayr North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Ian Cavana (incumbent)	34.0	1,481
	SNP	Douglas Campbell (incumbent)	31.2	1,361
	Conservative	John Hampton (incumbent)	15.9	692	715	744	762	975
	Labour	Rita Miller	11.9	519	1,003
	SNP	Tom Slider (incumbent)	7.0	305	332	724	751
Electorate: 12,643   Valid: 4,358   Spoilt: 115   Quota: 872   Turnout: 34.5%

Source:^[8][9]

2007 election

Main article: 2007 South Ayrshire Council election

Ayr North – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Labour	Douglas Campbell	27.0	1,663
	SNP	Tom Slider	25.0	1,506
	Conservative	John Hampton	18.4	1,108	1,119	1,147	1,151	1,158	1,170	1,186	???	???
	Labour	Ian Cavana	11.8	712	1,004	1,040	1,041	1,046	1,056	1,074	???	???
	Independent	Rab Hill	7.4	445	457	476	484	511	524	559	???
	Labour	Ian Stewart	5.9	356	412	438	440	441	450	469
	Solidarity	Amanda McFarlane	1.9	117	122	146	150	158	186
	Scottish Socialist	Liz Swan	1.1	66	70	99	102	106
	Independent	Jim McEwan	0.8	50	52	60	74
	Independent	Tommy O'Lone	0.6	37	39	46
Valid: 6,060   Quota: 1,213

Source: ^[10]

References

1. "Ayr North". Scottish Government. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
4. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 3 Ayr North" (PDF). South Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
5. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 3 Ayr North" (PDF). South Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
6. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 3 Ayr North" (PDF). South Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
7. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 3 Ayr North" (PDF). South Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
8. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2012 - South Ayrshire". Retrieved 30 January 2024.
9. "Election 2012 for South Ayrshire Council Ward 3 Ayr North". South Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
10. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Ayrshire". Retrieved 15 July 2024.