Ardrossan and Arran (ward)

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 (2007)–2022 (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

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 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

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

2017 election

Main article: 2017 North Ayrshire Council election

Ardrossan and Arran - 3 seats

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%

Source: ^[6][7]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 North Ayrshire Council election

Ardrossan and Arran - 4 seats

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

Main article: 2007 North Ayrshire Council election

Ardrossan and Arran - 4 seats

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

1. Cllr Ellen McMaster twice changed political affiliation first joining the Alba Party before becoming an independent.^[5]

References

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. Jones, Jennifer (24 November 2021). "Ayrshire: Councillor Ellen McMaster leaves Alba Party". Irvine Times. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
6. "Declaration of Results Report Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
7. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
8. "Declaration of Results Ward 05 - Ardrossan and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
9. "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.