Ayr (Scottish Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Scottish Parliament county constituency | |
|---|---|
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| Ayr shown within the South of Scotland electoral region |
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| 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.
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[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] Candidates
| Scottish parliamentary election, 2007: Ayr | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Duncan | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Stuart Ritchie | ||||
| Conservative and Unionist | John Scott | ||||
| Scottish National Party | Iain White | - | |||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
[edit] Election results
[edit] 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 | ||||
[edit] 2000
| Ayr Scottish Parliament 2000 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 | ||
| UKIP | 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 | ||||
[edit] 1999
| Scottish parliamentary election, 1999: Ayr | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Ian Welsh | 14,263 | 38.1 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Phil Gallie | 14,238 | 38.0 | N/A | |
| Scottish National Party | Roger Mullin | 7,291 | 19.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Elaine Morris | 1,662 | 4.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 25 | 0.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 37454 | N/A | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
