2017 South Ayrshire Council election

The 2017 local council election to South Ayrshire Council was held on Thursday 4 May 2017, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. It was the third successive Local Council election in South Ayrshire to run under the STV Electoral System. Following the election, a coalition administration was formed between the SNP, Labour and Independent councillors, despite the fact that the Conservatives remained the largest party on the council, increasing their lead over the SNP by 2 seats.[2]

Main article: 2017 Scottish local elections

2017 South Ayrshire Council election

4 May 2017 (2017-05-04)
All 28 seats to South Ayrshire Council 15 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Martin Dowey Allan Dorrans[1] Party Conservative SNP Leader's seat Ayr West Ayr West (defeated) Last election 10 seats, 31.5% 9 seats, 29.3% Seats before 10 9 Seats after 12 9 Seat change 2 Popular vote 19,851 13,808 Percentage 43.4% 30.2%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Brian McGinley Brian Connolly Party Labour Independent Leader's seat Ayr East Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton Last election 9 seats, 25.0% 2 seat, 13.5% Seats before 9 2 Seats after 5 2 Seat change 4 Popular vote 6,954 4,879 Percentage 15.2% 10.7%
The 8 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Bill McIntosh Conservative Council Leader after election Douglas Campbell Scottish National Party[2]

Boundary Review

The total number of seats on South Ayrshire Council was reduced as part of a Boundary Review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland from 30 to 28,[3] with the total number of council wards remaining at 8.

The St. Leonard's area of Ayr was moved from the Ayr East ward to the Ayr West ward, with the number of council seats in Ayr East being reduced from 4 to 3.

Annbank and St. Quivox were moved from the Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton ward to the Kyle ward, with Kirkoswald, Maidens and Turnberry moving from the Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton ward to the Girvan and South Carrick ward. The number of council seats in Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton was reduced from 4 to 3.

The Conservatives were the net losers of the boundary changes, who would have otherwise had two additional councillors elected in Ayr East and Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton.

Wards

Ward number	Ward name	Description	Seats
1	Troon	The Burgh of Troon.	4
2	Prestwick	The Burgh of Prestwick.	4
3	Ayr North	All areas north of the River Ayr located in the Burgh of Ayr, excluding south-west Wallacetown between Craigie Road and Whitletts Road. Covering the districts of Braehead, Craigie, Dalmilling, Heathfield, Lochside, Newton-on-Ayr, Whitletts and northern Wallacetown.	4
4	Ayr East	All areas in the south-east of the Burgh of Ayr located west of the A77 bypass, south of the River Ayr and east of the railway line. Covering the districts of Belmont, Castlehill, Forehill, Holmston, Kincaidston and Masonhill.	3
5	Ayr West	All areas in the south-west of the Burgh of Ayr south of the river Ayr and west of the railway line, in addition to south-west Wallacetown between Craigie Road and Whitletts Road. Covering the districts of Alloway, Central Ayr, Doonfoot, Fort, Seafield, St Leonard's and southern Wallacetown.	4
6	Kyle	All areas north of the river Ayr outside of the Burghs of Ayr, Prestwick and Troon. Covering the villages of Annbank, Dundonald, Loans, Monkton, Mossblown, Symington and Tarbolton.	3
7	Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton	All areas south of the river Ayr and north of the River Doon outside of the Burgh of Ayr, in addition to the north-east of Carrick. Covering the town of Maybole and the villages of Coylton, Crosshill, Dunure, Kirkmichael, Minishant and Straiton.	3
8	Girvan and South Carrick	The south-west of Carrick. Covering the town of Girvan and the villages of Ballantrae, Barr, Barrhill, Colmonell, Dailly, Kirkoswald, Lendalfoot, Maidens, Old Dailly, Pinmore, Pinwherry and Turnberry.	3

Election Result

South Ayrshire Local Election Result 2017

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	12	2	0	2	42.9	43.4	19,851	11.9
	SNP	9	1	1		32.1	30.2	13,808	0.9
	Labour	5	0	4	4	17.9	15.2	6,954	9.8
	Independent	2	0	0		7.1	10.7	4,879	2.8
	Scottish Green	0				0.0	0.6	290	New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

 Results of the South Ayrshire Council election, 2017
by ward

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	Conservative		SNP		Lab		Ind		Green
Troon	51.5%	2	30.6%	1	13.7%	1			4.2%	0	4
Prestwick	46.2%	2	31.3%	1	13.3%	1	9.1%	0			4
Ayr North	25.6%	1	43.7%	2	24.7%	1	6.1%	0			4
Ayr East	40.5%	1	36.5%	1	17.3%	1	5.6%	0			3
Ayr West	59.2%	3	23.4%	1	11.1%	0	6.2%	0			4
Kyle	43.8%	1	31.0%	1	25.3%	1					3
Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton	36.4%	1	27.7%	1	9.4%	0	26.5%	1			3
Girvan & South Carrick	26.7%	1	19.3%	1	9.4%	0	44.5%	1			3
Total	43.4%	12	30.2%	9	15.2%	5	10.7%	2	0.6%	0	28

Ward Results

Troon (4 seats)

• 2012: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: No change

Troon - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Conservative	Peter Convery (incumbent)	35.2%	2,446
	Conservative	Bob Pollock	16.3%	1,135	2,017
	SNP	Craig Mackay	16.2%	1,125	1,146	1,157	1,216	2,201
	SNP	Annie McIndoe	14.5%	1,005	1,016	1,025	1,117
	Labour	Philip Saxton (incumbent)	13.7%	951	1,011	1,194	1,304	1,385
	Scottish Green	Boyd Murdoch	4.2%	290	310	371
Electorate: 12,132   Valid: 6,952   Spoilt: 128   Quota: 1,391.1   Turnout: 57.2%

Prestwick (4 seats)

• 2012: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: No change

Prestwick - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Conservative	Hugh Hunter (incumbent)	29.9%	2,008
	SNP	Ian Cochrane (incumbent)	22.3%	1,498
	Conservative	Margaret Toner (incumbent)	16.3%	1,098	1,641
	Labour	Helen Moonie (incumbent)	13.3%	895	932	990	1,000	1,255	1,615
	SNP	John Wallace*	9.1%	612	618	625	749	897
	Independent	Alasdair John Malcolm	9.1%	611	649	719	726
Electorate: 12,085   Valid: 6,722   Spoilt: 172   Quota: 1,345   Turnout: 55.1%

* = Incumbent councillor for Ayr East.

Ayr North (4 seats)

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: SNP gain from Lab

Ayr North - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 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%

Ayr East (3 seats)

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: SNP lose seat

Ayr East - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Conservative	Mary Kilpatrick (incumbent)	40.5%	2,110
	SNP	Chris Cullen	22.1%	1,148	1,165	1,223	1,233	1,926
	Labour	Brian McGinley (incumbent)	17.3%	900	1,141	1,356
	SNP	Ian McPherson	14.5%	753	767	801	810
	Independent	Andrew Bryden	5.6%	293	500
Electorate: 10,029   Valid: 5,204   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 1,302   Turnout: 51.5%

Ayr West (4 seats)

• 2012: 2xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 3xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: Con gain from Lab

Ayr West - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Conservative	Martin Dowey	38.7%	3,160
	SNP	Siobhian Brown	15.5%	1,267	1,276	1,276	1,376	2,006
	Conservative	Lee Lyons	12.3%	1,006	1,847
	Labour	Liz Martin	11.1%	911	952	961	1,071	1,103	1,248
	Conservative	Darek McCabe	8.3%	675	1,211	1,400	1,530	1,547	1,560	1,865
	SNP	Allan Dorrans (incumbent)	7.9%	646	653	654	723
	Independent	Chic Brodie	6.2%	506	530	535
Electorate: 13,822   Valid: 8,171   Spoilt: 138   Quota: 1,635   Turnout: 59.4%

Kyle (3 seats)

• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: No change

Kyle - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4
	Conservative	Arthur Spurling	43.8%	2,160
	Labour	Andy Campbell (incumbent)	25.3%	1,247
	SNP	Julie Dettbarn	16.4%	807	876	879	1,612
	SNP	Scott McFarlane	14.6%	721	811	813
Electorate: 10,215   Valid: 4,935   Spoilt: 74   Quota: 1,234   Turnout: 48.7%

Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton (3 seats)

• 2012: 1xInd; 1xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xInd
• 2012-2017 Change: Lab lose seat

Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2
	Conservative	Ian Campbell	36.4%	1,584
	SNP	William Grant (incumbent)	27.7%	1,202
	Independent	Brian Connolly (incumbent)	20.8%	904	1,089
	Labour	Catriona Deliveli	9.4%	408	478
	Independent	Gordon McFadzean	5.7%	249	318
Electorate: 9,359   Valid: 4,347   Spoilt: 45   Quota: 1,087   Turnout: 48.1%

Girvan and South Carrick (3 seats)

• 2012: 1xInd; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 1xInd; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: Con gain from Lab

Girvan and South Carrick - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Independent	Alec Clark (incumbent)	33.1%	1,502
	Conservative	Ian Fitzsimmons	26.7%	1,211
	SNP	Peter Henderson	19.3%	876	919	921	933	1,012	1,285
	Independent	Karen Clark-McCartney	9.5%	429	569	586	636	803
	Labour	Owen Martin	9.4%	428	485	497	515
	Independent	Gavin Scott	1.9%	85	125	134
Electorate: 8,742   Valid: 4,531   Spoilt: 76   Quota: 1,133   Turnout: 52.3%

References

1. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/snp-hopefuls-south-ayrshire-council-10107253 'SNP hopefuls for South Ayrshire Council pledge not to get in bed with the Tories in bid for power'
2. "SNP, Labour and Independent councillors to run South Ayrshire Council". BBC News. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
3. http://www.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk/reviews/5th_electoral/south_ayrshire/