2003 North Ayrshire Council election

2003 North Ayrshire Council election

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All 30 seats to North Ayrshire Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	48.8%
First party Second party Third party   Lab Con SNP Party Labour Conservative SNP Last election 25 seats, 46.9% 2 seats, 18.2% 2 seats, 31.2% Seats won 21 4 3 Seat change 4 2 1 Popular vote 22,591 9,804 14,465 Percentage 44.0% 19.1% 28.2% Swing 2.9 0.9 3.0
Council Leader before election Labour Council Leader after election Labour

Elections to North Ayrshire Council were held on 1 May 2003, the same day as the 31 other local government elections in Scotland and elections to the Scottish Parliament. This was the third election to the council following the implementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

The election used the 30 wards created by the Third Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements in 1998. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.

Labour retained control of the council after winning 21 of the 30 seats – down by four from the previous election in 1999. The Conservatives were the second-largest party on the council after doubling their number to four while the Scottish National Party (SNP) won three seats – an increase of one.

Background

Following the implementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, a unitary authority system of local government comprising 32 council areas was introduced the following year. The 2003 elections would be the third elections since their establishment. ^[1]

At the previous election in 1999, Labour retained control after taking 25 of the 30 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Conservatives both won two seats and one independent candidate was elected. ^[2]

Results

2003 North Ayrshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	21	0	4	4	70.0	44.0	22,591	2.9
	Conservative	4	2	0	2	13.3	19.1	9,804	0.9
	SNP	3	1	0	1	10.0	28.2	14,465	3.0
	Independent	2	1	0	1	6.7	5.5	2,837	3.6
	Scottish Socialist	0	0	0		0.0	2.4	1,220	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	199	New
	Firefighters Against Cuts	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	132	New
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	129	1.1
Total		30						51,377

Source: ^{[3] [2]}

Ward results

Irvine West

Irvine West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David O'Neill	761	43.9	1.1
	SNP	C. McKenzie	485	28.0	7.7
	Conservative	D. Belding	227	13.1	0.5
	Scottish Socialist	J. Gray	191	11.0	6.1
	Socialist Labour	R. Cochrane	70	4.0
Majority			276	15.9	8.8
Turnout			1,562	44.9	12.1
Registered electors			3,860
	Labour hold		Swing	2.7

Source: ^{[3] [2]}

Arran

Arran

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Currie	1,105	46.3	17.1
	Labour	John Sillars	782	32.8	9.8
	SNP	James Lees	266	11.2	16.9
	Scottish Socialist	Isla Blair	232	9.7	New
Majority			323	13.5	N/A
Turnout			2,385	61.4	4.9
Registered electors			3,884
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	13.4

Source: ^{[3] [2]}

West Kilbride

West Kilbride

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Elizabeth McLardy	1,232	52.5	10.7
	Conservative	Anne Wilkinson	654	27.9	4.8
	Labour	Michael McGuire	220	9.4	New
	SNP	John Willis	171	7.3	New
	Socialist Labour	James McDaid	59	2.5	New
Majority			578	24.6	15.5
Turnout			2,346	61.1	8.2
Registered electors			3,838
	Independent hold		Swing	10.7

Source: ^{[3] [2]}

Aftermath

Labour retained control of the council with a reduced majority after taking 21 of the 30 seats – down by four from the previous election. The Conservatives were the second-largest party after doubling their representation on the council to four. Despite coming second on the popular vote, the SNP only managed to take three seats – an increase of one from 1999. Two independent candidates were also elected. ^{[3] [2]}

These would be the last council elections contested using first-past-the-post voting as proportional representation and the single transferable vote was introduced for Scottish councils from the 2007 elections. ^[4]

References

1. McConnell, Alan (2004). Scottish Local Government. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-0-7486-2005-0.
2. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1999). Local Elections Handbook 1999 (PDF). Plymouth: Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. ISBN   0-948858-25-7 . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
3. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2003). Local Elections Handbook 2003 (PDF). Plymouth: Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. ISBN   0-948858-35-4 . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
4. Parker, Simon (19 May 2003). "Councils next for PR in Scotland". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 April 2025.