Cunninghame North (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Cunninghame North
Scottish Parliament county constituency
Cunninghame North shown within the
West of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: Kenneth Gibson
Party: SNP
Council area: North Ayrshire

Cunninghame North is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the West 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.

Contents

[edit] Electoral region

See also West of Scotland Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the West of Scotland region are Dumbarton, Clydebank and Milngavie, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley North, Paisley South, Strathkelvin and Bearsden and West Renfrewshire.

The region covers the West Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde councila area, most of the Renfrewshire council area, most of the East Dunbartonshire council area, part of the Argyll and Bute council area and part of the North Ayrshire council area.

[edit] Constituency boundaries

The Cunninghame North 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, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was abolished in favour of new constituencies.[1]

[edit] Council area

The Holyrood constituency covers a north-western portion of the Ayrshire North council area, and includes the Isle of Arran. The rest of the Ayrshire North area is covered by the Cunninghame South constituency, which is within the South of Scotland electoral region.

[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Allan Wilson Labour
2003
2007 Kenneth Gibson Scottish National Party

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Cunninghame North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Kenneth Gibson 9,295 30.7 +3.6
Labour Allan Wilson 9,247 30.6 -8.3
Conservative Philip Lardner 5,466 18.1 -1.3
Independent Campbell Martin 4,423 14.6 +14.6
Liberal Democrats Lewis Hutton 1,810 6.0 -2.1
Majority 48 0.2 -11.63
Turnout 30,241 54.1 +2.34
Scottish National Party gain from Labour Swing 6.0
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Cunninghame North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Allan Wilson 11,142 38.92 -3.99
Scottish National Party Campbell Martin 7,755 27.09 -1.49
Conservative Peter Ramsay 5,542 19.36 -0.49
Liberal Democrats John Boyd 2,333 8.15 -0.51
Scottish Socialist Sean Scott 1,859 6.49 +6.49
Majority 3,387 11.83 -2.50
Turnout 28,631 51.76 -8.20
Labour hold Swing
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Cunninghame North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Allan Wilson 14,369 42.90 N/A
Scottish National Party Kay Ullrich 9,573 28.58 N/A
Conservative Mike Johnston 6,649 19.85 N/A
Liberal Democrats Calum Irving 2,900 8.66 N/A
Majority 4,796 14.32
Turnout
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Controversy

The high number of rejected votes was particularly significant in Cunninghame North where the majority (48) was far smaller than the number of rejected papers (over 1,000). Additionally, ballot papers carried by boat from the Isle of Arran were damp when they arrived raising suggestions they may not have been transported securely. There were also questions about a discrepancy in the number of ballot papers that left Arran and the number that arrived at the count, though the returning officer later announced that a manual recount found no discrepancy.[2] Allan Wilson, the former member for Cunninghame North was said to be discussing with his solicitor a potential legal challenge to the Cunninghame North result[3] but no election petition was lodged.[4]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland
  2. ^ "Blow to SNP coalition hopes as Lib Dems spurn independence deal", The Guardian, 7 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 
  3. ^ "Holyrood vote may face challenges", BBC, 6 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 
  4. ^ No Labour challenge over election BBC Online, 25 May 2007


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