North Coast and Cumbraes (ward)

North Coast and Cumbraes was one of the nine wards used to elect members of North Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007 following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, the ward elected four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. As a result of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, the ward was abolished in 2022.

North Coast and Cumbraes
North Ayrshire
Outline map
Boundary of North Coast and Cumbraes in North Ayrshire from 2017–2022.
Electorate13,596 (2017)
Major settlementsLargs
Millport
Scottish Parliament constituencyCunninghame North
Scottish Parliament regionWest Scotland
UK Parliament constituencyNorth Ayrshire and Arran
2007 (2007)–2022 (2022)
Number of councillors4
Replaced byNorth Coast
Created fromKilbirnie North
Largs East
Largs North and Skelmorlie
Largs South and Fairlie
Largs West and Cumbrae

The ward was a Scottish National Party (SNP) stronghold as the part held half the seats between 2007 and 2017. Both Labour and the Conservatives also returned one councillor at each election.

Boundaries

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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 North Coast and Cumbraes was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained the northern part of former Largs South and Fairlie ward and the western part of the former Kilbirnie North ward as well as all of the former Largs East, Largs North and Skelmorlie and Largs West and Cumbrae wards. North Coast and Cumbraes took in the northernmost part of the council area next to its border with Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and the Firth of Clyde and included the towns of Largs, Fairlie and Skelmorlie as well as the two islands of The Cumbraes.[1]

North Coast and Cumbraes was the only ward in the council area unaffected following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections.[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. The review coincided with the introduction of the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 which allowed for the creation of five-member wards. This proposed that three wards – Dalry and West Kilbride, Kilbirnie and Beith and North Coast and Cumbraes – be replaced by two new wards named Garnock Valley and North Coast. The proposals for North Ayrshire were subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament and the ward was abolished in 2022.[3][4]

Councillors

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Election Councillors
2007 Alan Hill
(SNP)
Bobby Rae
(SNP)
Alex Gallagher
(Labour)
Elisabethe Marshall
(Conservative)
2012 Alex McLean
(SNP)
Tom Marshall
(Conservative)
2014 Grace McLean
(SNP)
2017 Ian Murdoch
(Ind.)


Election results

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2017 election

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North Coast and Cumbraes - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Conservative Tom Marshall (incumbent) 37.0 2,686          
SNP Alan Hill (incumbent) 19.4 1,406 1,450 1,451      
Labour Alex Gallagher (incumbent) 16.0 1,160 1,461        
SNP Grace McLean (incumbent) 14.8 1,075 1,091 1,091 1,092 1,112  
Independent Ian Murdoch 11.0 801 1,110 1,113 1,113 1,272 1,767
Independent Johnny McCloskey 1.7 124 239 241 241    
Electorate: 13,596   Valid: 7,252   Spoilt: 117   Quota: 1,451   Turnout: 54.2%  

Source: [5][6]

2014 by-election

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SNP councillor Alex McLean died on 1 August 2014.[7] A by-election was held on 30 October 2014 and was won by his widow Grace McLean, also of the SNP.

North Coast and Cumbraes by-election (30 October 2014) - 1 seat
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
SNP Grace McLean 38.7 2,021 2,045 2,156 2,279 2,966
Independent Drew Cochrane 22.8 1,190 1,234 1,411 2,000  
Conservative Toni Dawson 21.5 1,125 1,174 1,296    
Labour Valerie Reid 13.2 691 711      
UKIP Meilan Henderson 3.6 192        
Electorate: 14,052   Valid: 5,219   Spoilt: 45   Quota: 2,610   Turnout: 37.5%  

Source: [8]

2012 election

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North Coast and Cumbraes - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SNP Alan Hill (incumbent) 27.4 1,705          
Labour Alex Gallagher (incumbent) 18.4 1,144 1,167 1,197 1,281    
Conservative Tom Marshall 18.4 1,143 1,161 1,173 1,176 1,182 1,599
SNP Alex McLean[note 1] 17.5 1,090 1,441        
Independent Ian Murdoch 16.3 1,017 1,050 1,103 1,126 1,137  
Socialist Labour James Anderson 2.0 124 128 137      
Electorate: 13,226   Valid: 6,223   Spoilt: 97   Quota: 1,245   Turnout: 47.0%  

Source: [10]

2007 election

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North Coast and Cumbraes - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SNP Alan Hill 30.2 2,357              
Labour Alex Gallagher 19.8 1,549 1,608            
Conservative Elisabethe Marshall 12.9 1,007 1,037 1,040 1,084 1,179 1,779    
Conservative Tom Marshall 9.2 719 732 734 751 785      
SNP Bobby Rae 9.2 715 1,194 1,201 1,259 1,389 1,429 1,457 1,832
Independent Ian Murdoch 7.5 587 622 626 793 936 980 1,038  
Liberal Democrats Lewis Hutton 6.3 493 548 559 617        
Independent Gerard Langan 4.8 377 411 414          
Electorate: 13,519   Valid: 7,804   Spoilt: 174   Quota: 1,561   Turnout: 59.0%  

Source: [11]

Notes

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  1. ^ North Coast and Cumbraes SNP councillor Alex McLean died on 1 August 2014.[9] A by-election was held on 30 October 2014 and was won by his widow Grace McLean, also of the SNP.

References

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  1. ^ "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Review of Electoral Arrangements; North Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Declaration of Results Report North Coast and Cumbraes" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report North Coast and Cumbraes" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  7. ^ Councillor Alex McLean, North Ayrshire Council, 6 August 2014 (archived version, 2014)
  8. ^ "Declaration of Results Ward 08 - North Coast and Cumbraes" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  9. ^ Councillor Alex McLean, North Ayrshire Council, 6 August 2014 (archived version, 2014)
  10. ^ "Declaration of Results Ward 08 - North Coast and Cumbraes" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: North Coast and Cumbraes Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.