Ayr (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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**Ayr**
Scottish Parliament county constituency

Ayr shown within the South of Scotland electoral region
Created:	1999
MSP:	John Scott
Party:	Conservative and Unionist
Council areas:	South Ayrshire (part)

Ayr is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the South of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

1 Electoral region
2 Constituency boundaries and council area
3 Members of the Scottish Parliament
4 Election results
5 Footnotes

[edit] Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, East Lothian, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Roxburgh and Berwickshire and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, part of the North Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

[edit] Constituency boundaries and council area

The Ayr constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies^[1].

The Holyrood constituency covers a northern portion of the South Ayrshire council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency, which also covers a southern portion of the East Ayrshire council area.

[edit] Members of the Scottish Parliament

The constituency is currently represented by Conservative and Unionist MSP John Scott. The seat had been won in 1999 by Ian Welsh of Labour, but he resigned from parliament in December 1999 for family reasons. Scott then won the seat at the subsequent by-election, and has retained the seat ever since.

[edit] Election results

2003

Scottish parliamentary election, 2003: Ayr
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Scott	12,865	40.72	+2.72
	Labour	Rita Miller	10,975	34.74	-3.36
	Scottish National Party	James Joseph Dornan	4,334	13.72	-5.78
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart David Ritchie	1,769	5.60	+1.20
	Scottish Socialist	James Scott Stewart	1,648	5.22	n/a
Majority			1,890	5.98	n/a
Turnout			31591	57.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

All percentages Are calculated to 2 decimal places

2000 By-election due to Labour MSP's resignation

Ayr Scottish Parliament By-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Scott	12,580	39.4
	Scottish National Party	Jim Mather	9,236	29.0
	Labour	Rita Miller	7,054	22.1
	Scottish Socialist	James Stewart	1,345	4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Ritchie	800	2.5
	Scottish Green	Gavin Corbett	460	1.4
	The Radio Vet	William Botcherby	186	0.6
	UK Independence	Alistair McConnachie	113	0.4
	ProLife Alliance	Robert Graham	111	0.4
	Independent (politician)	Kevin Dillion	15	0.1
Majority			3,344
Turnout			31,900
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

1999

Scottish parliamentary election, 1999: Ayr
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Welsh	14,263	38.1	{{{change}}}
	Conservative	Phil Gallie	14,238	38.0	{{{change}}}
	Scottish National Party	Roger Mullin	7,291	19.5	{{{change}}}
	Liberal Democrats	Elaine Morris	1,662	4.4	{{{change}}}
Majority			25	0.1	{{{change}}}
Turnout			37454
	Labour hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}