Avondale and Stonehouse (ward)

Avondale and Stonehouse is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward initially elected four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system before a boundary review in 2017 reduced the number of councillors to three. It covers an area with a population of 17,749 people.

Avondale and Stonehouse
South Lanarkshire
Outline map
Boundary of Avondale and Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population17,749 (2021)[1]
Electorate14,882 (2022)
Major settlementsStrathaven
Stonehouse
Scottish Parliament constituencyClydesdale
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
Scottish Parliament regionSouth Scotland
UK Parliament constituencyEast Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
Lanark and Hamilton East
Current ward
Created2007 (2007)
Number of councillors3
CouncillorMargaret Cooper (Independent)
CouncillorElise Frame (SNP)
CouncillorSusan Kerr (Labour)
Created fromAvondale North
Avondale South
Larkhall South
Lindsay

The ward has produced strong results for both Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP). Prior to the boundary review, the SNP held half the seats in the ward and both parties have returned at least one member at every election.

Boundaries edit

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 Avondale and Stonehouse was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained the majority of the former Lindsay ward and part of the former Larkhall South ward as well as all of the former Avondale North and Avondale South wards. Avondale and Stonehouse is located in the west of South Lanarkshire and covers a rural hinterland next to its boundaries with East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire. The ward centres around the towns of Strathaven and Stonehouse as well the villages of Chapelton and Glassford.[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's boundaries were altered to remove a corridor of farmland between the White Cart Water and southern East Kilbride. The review resulted in a reduction in the number of seats from four to three in order to balance with other wards with similar populations.[3]

Councillors edit

Year Councillors
2007 William Holman
(SNP)
James Malloy
(Labour)
Graeme Campbell
(Conservative
/Independent/
Conservative)
Lynn Filshie
(Independent)
2012 Margaret Cooper
(Labour
/Independent)
Isobel Dorman
(SNP)
2017 3 seats
2017
2022 Susan Kerr
(Labour)
Elise Frame
(SNP)

Election results edit

2022 election edit

Avondale and Stonehouse - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Independent Margaret Cooper (incumbent) 23.7 1,629 1,639 1,740        
SNP Elise Frame 21.2 1,454 1,471 1,632 1,635 2,122    
Conservative Gary Burns 20.6 1,416 1,420 1,440 1,445 1,452 1,462  
Labour Susan Kerr 19.8 1,363 1,367 1,439 1,444 1,480 1,619 2,290
SNP Leigh Payne 7.2 495 515 566 567      
Scottish Green Erica Bradley-Young 6.4 437 444          
Alba Colin MacLaren 1.1 75            
Electorate: 14,882   Valid: 6,869   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 1,718   Turnout: 46.8%  

Source:[4][5]

2017 election edit

Avondale and Stonehouse - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Conservative Graeme Campbell (incumbent) 31.5 2,062              
Labour Margaret Cooper (incumbent)[note 1] 23.5 1,540 1,656            
SNP Isobel Dorman (incumbent) 17.1 1,121 1,131 1,134 1,137 1,147 1,187 1,309 2,279
SNP Mairi Tulbure 13.4 877 882 883 884 893 967 1,111  
Independent Alister Hendry 8.9 580 665 669 695 739 801    
Scottish Green Erica Young 3.0 193 203 204 211 273      
Liberal Democrats Daniel O'Malley 1.9 122 170 173 181        
UKIP Laura Murray 0.8 51 82 83          
Electorate: 13,114   Valid: 6,546   Spoilt: 90   Quota: 1,637   Turnout: 50.6%  

Source:[7][8]

2012 election edit

Avondale and Stonehouse - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
SNP Isobel Dorman 21.4 1,148                    
SNP William Holman (incumbent) 16.1 866 923 932 950 993 1,061 1,163        
Labour Margaret Cooper 12.5 670 673 674 685 698 732 759 764 1,159    
Conservative Allan Finnie 11.6 624 625 635 642 650 667 719 725 735 740  
Independent Graeme Campbell (incumbent) 9.4 502 503 505 516 525 581 808 824 853 862 1,100
Labour John Hamilton 9.2 494 495 495 499 522 565 589 597      
Independent Lynn Filshie (incumbent) 7.6 409 412 412 429 460 555          
Independent Jim Malloy (incumbent) 6.3 339 340 340 357 381            
Scottish Green Erica Young 3.4 181 183 185 189              
Independent Kenny Weir 1.8 94 96 99                
UKIP Melvyn Donald Randall 0.7 37 37                  
Electorate: 12,848   Valid: 5,364   Spoilt: 97   Quota: 1,073   Turnout: 41.8%  

Source:[9]

2007 election edit

Avondale and Stonehouse - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SNP William Holman 27.6 1,989              
Conservative Graeme Campbell 19.2 1,384 1,450            
Labour James Malloy[note 2] 14.9 1,071 1,127 1,128 1,140 1,155 1,226 1,356 ???
Independent Lynn Filshie 11.1 797 858 860 975 1,127 1,205 1,348 ???
Labour Ian McInnes 10.9 788 816 816 824 830 867 922  
Liberal Democrats Nigel Benzies 5.7 414 496 498 511 536 646    
Scottish Green John Innes 4.6 333 406 406 416 449      
Independent Stuart Brown 3.3 238 266 267 304        
Independent Frank Reilly 2.7 198 217 218          
Electorate: 13,144   Valid: 6,912   Quota: 1,443   Turnout: 55.7%  

Source:[10][11]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Avondale and Stonehouse Labour councillor Margaret Cooper resigned from the party and became an independent in May 2017.[6]
  2. ^ Returning councillor for Avondale North single-member ward.

References edit

  1. ^ "Avondale and Stonehouse". Scottish Government. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Ward 5 Avondale and Stonehouse Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Ward 5 Avondale and Stonehouse Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  6. ^ Findlay, Nicola (25 May 2017). "Long-standing councillors quit SNP ahead of first meeting of new council". Daily Record.
  7. ^ "Ward 5 Avondale and Stonehouse Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Ward 5 Avondale and Stonehouse Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  10. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  11. ^ Bochel, H. M.; Denver, D. T. (2007). Scottish Council Elections 2007 Results and Statistics (PDF). Lincoln: Policy Studies Research Centre, University of Lincoln. ISBN 978-1-874474-36-4. Retrieved 19 February 2023.