1988 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election

1988 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election

←  1984 5 May 1988 (1988-05-05) 1992  →
All 10 seats to Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council 6 seats needed for a majority
Registered	33,664
Turnout	52.6% [note 1]
First party Second party Third party   Lab ILab SDP Party Labour Independent Labour SDP Last election 10 seats, 70.2% 0 seats, 13.4% N/A Seats won 8 1 1 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 7,655 1,399 1,163 Percentage 61.3% 11.3% 9.4% Swing 8.9 2.1 New [note 2]
Council Leader before election Labour Council Leader after election Labour

Elections to Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council were held on 5 May 1988, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the fifth election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.

The election used the 10 wards created by the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1981. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting. ^[1]

Labour maintained a large majority on the district council after winning eight of the 10 seats although four wards were uncontested after only Labour stood a candidate. Labour's vote share fell by 8.9% as they lost two seats from previous election in 1984. The newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP) won a seat in Cumnock and Doon Valley for the first time – their only seat in Scotland at the 1988 elections – and the remaining seat was won by Independent Labour.

Results

1988 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	8	0	2	2	80.0	61.3	7,655	8.9
	Independent Labour	1	1	0	1	10.0	11.3	1,399	2.1
	SDP	1	1	0	1	10.0	9.4	1,163	New [note 2]
	SNP	0	0	0		0.0	10.6	1,319	New
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	4.1	506	New
	Conservative	0	0	0		0.0	3.6	449	14.0
Total		10						12,491

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Ward results

Cumnock East

Cumnock East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,756
	Labour hold

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Lugar, Logan and Muirkirk

Lugar, Logan and Muirkirk

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	J. Cannon	880	48.5	New
	Labour	N. Valentine	763	42.1	26.2
	SNP	S. Patterson	167	9.2	New
Majority			117	6.4	N/A
Turnout			1,810	58.3	2.8
Registered electors			2,905
	Independent Labour gain from Labour		Swing	37.3

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Cumnock South and Old Cumnock

Cumnock South and Old Cumnock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Sneller	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,489
	Labour hold

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Cumnock West and Auchinleck

Cumnock West and Auchinleck

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Allan	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,804
	Labour hold

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Catrine, Sorn and North Auchinleck

Catrine, Sorn and North Auchinleck

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. McIntyre	948	67.9	4.8
	SNP	J. Kellighan	445	31.9	New
Majority			503	36.0	9.7
Turnout			1,393	40.5	10.9
Registered electors			3,451
	Labour hold		Swing	18.3

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

New Cumnock

New Cumnock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Alexander	1,517	89.6
	SNP	I. Hamilton	175	10.3
Majority			1,342	79.3
Turnout			1,692	46.6
Registered electors			3,633
	Labour hold

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Dalmellington

Dalmellington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	M. Ali	1,163	56.5	New
	Labour	H. Walker	626	30.4	21.0
	Independent	T. Gormanley	171	8.3	New
	SNP	D. Kerr	96	4.7	New
Majority			537	26.1	N/A
Turnout			2,056	65.0	16.2
Registered electors			3,166
	SDP gain from Labour		Swing	28.2

At the 1984 election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 48.4% of the vote in Dalmellington. They subsequently merged with the Liberal Party in March 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats. Some members of the SDP opposed the merger and split to form a new Social Democratic Party.

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Patna and Dalrymple

Patna and Dalrymple

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Smith	1,040	65.0	6.4
	Independent	M. T. Frew	273	17.1	New
	SNP	J. Bradford	219	13.7	New
	Independent	W. Harvey	62	3.9	New
Majority			767	47.9	30.5
Turnout			1,594	51.2	3.3
Registered electors			3,126
	Labour hold		Swing	23.8

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Drongan, Ochiltree, Rankinston and Stair

Drongan, Ochiltree, Rankinston and Stair

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hodge	1,694	88.4	11.4
	SNP	J. McMaster	217	11.3	New
Majority			1,477	77.1	10.2
Turnout			1,911	50.2	8.1
Registered electors			3,816
	Labour hold		Swing	10.7

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Mauchline

Mauchline

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Rowe	1,067	52.2
	Independent Labour	D. Shankland	519	25.4
	Conservative	J. Borland	449	22.0
Majority			548	26.8
Turnout			2,035	58.1
Registered electors			3,518
	Labour hold

Source: ^{[2] [3]}

Notes

1. Excludes uncontested wards.
2. At the 1984 election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 6.7% of the vote. They subsequently merged with the Liberal Party in March 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats. Some members of the SDP opposed the merger and split to form a new Social Democratic Party.

References

1. "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
2. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1989). The Scottish District Elections 1988: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. ISBN   1-869820-02-9 . Retrieved 18 November 2022.
3. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1984). The Scottish District Elections 1984: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 November 2022.