An Taobh Siar agus Nis

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An Taobh Siar agus Nis
Na h-Eileanan Siar
An Taobh Siar agus Nis.jpg
Boundary of An Taobh Siar agus Nis in Na h-Eileanan Siar from 2007–2022.
Population2,668 (2021) [1]
Electorate 2,552 (2022)
Major settlements Barvas
Port of Ness
Scottish Parliament constituency Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Scottish Parliament region Highlands and Islands
UK Parliament constituency Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Current ward
Created2007 (2007)
Number of councillors3
CouncillorJohn N. MacLeod (Independent)
CouncillorKenneth MacLeod (SNP)
CouncillorDonald MacSween (Independent)
Created from Barvas and Arnol
Carloway
Dell
Gress
Laxdale
Port of Ness
Shawbost

An Taobh Siar agus Nis ( Scottish Gaelic for 'West Side and Ness') is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar ( Scottish Gaelic for 'Council of the Western Isles'). Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a four-member ward, the number of members elected in An Taobh Siar agus Nis was reduced following a boundary review and it has elected three councillors since the 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.

Contents

Independents have dominated elections in the Western Isles and the majority of councillors elected in the area have had no party affiliation. However, since 2012, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have held one of the seats.

Boundaries

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so An Taobh Siar agus Nis was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Dell and Port of Ness wards, the majority of the former Barvas and Arnol and Shawbost wards as well as part of the former Carloway, Gress and Laxdale wards. The ward centres around the towns of Barvas and Port of Ness in the northwest of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It includes the remote and uninhabited Isle of Rona in the north Atlantic Ocean – the northernmost part of the council area. [2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have extended the ward south to include Carloway. [3] However, these were not adopted by Scottish ministers as plans for the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 would bring forward an interim review following the 2017 elections. [4]

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 allowed for the creation of single- and dual-member wards to allow for better representation of island areas. The boundaries for An Taobh Siar agus Nis were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act. However, the ward was reduced from a four-member ward to a three-member ward to improve electoral parity. [5]

Councillors

YearCouncillors
2007 Agnes Rennie
(Independent)
John MacKay
(Independent)
Kenneth M. Murray
(Independent)
Iain Morrison
(Independent)
2012 Kenneth MacLeod
(SNP)
March 2015Alistair MacLennan
(Independent)
October 2015John N. McLeod
(Independent)
2017 Kenny J. MacLeod
(Independent)
2022 Donald McSween
(Independent)

Election results

2022 election

An Taobh Siar agus Nis – 3 seats
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123456
Independent John N. MacLeod (incumbent)25.0346356    
SNP Kenny MacLeod (incumbent)21.8302365    
Independent Donald MacSween19.6271282 288 290 339 479
Independent Dorothy Morrison16.8233242 248 250 283  
Independent Donald J. MacLeod9.5131133 135 138   
SNP Finlay J. MacLeod7.4102     
Electorate: 2,552  Valid: 1,414  Spoilt: 29  Quota: 347  Turnout: 55.4%  

    Source: [6]

    2017 election

    An Taobh Siar agus Nis – 4 seats
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456
    Independent John N. MacLeod (incumbent)23.7339     
    SNP Kenneth MacLeod (incumbent)19.4277286    
    Independent Kenny J. MacLeod16.7239260 261 310  
    Independent John MacKay (incumbent)15.4220224 224 254 261 339
    Independent Alistair MacLennan (incumbent)13.5193200 201 238 247  
    Independent Malcolm McTaggart11.3161164 164    
    Electorate: 2,541  Valid: 1,429  Spoilt: 35  Quota: 286  Turnout: 57.6%  

      Source: [7]

      2015 By-election

      An Taobh Siar agus Nis By-election (7 October 2015) – 1 Seat [8]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1
      Independent John Norman MacLeod86.9%886
      Independent Richard Froggatt7.4%75
      Green Gavin MacLeod Humphreys5.8%59
      Valid: 1,020  Quota: 511  Turnout: (39.8%)  

        2012 Election

        2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

        An Taobh Siar agus Nis - 4 seats
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12
        Independent Iain Morrison (incumbent)††††24.18%354 
        Independent John MacKay (incumbent)21.17%310 
        SNP Kenneth MacLeod20.36%298 
        Independent Kenneth MacLeod Murray (incumbent) ††19.74%289316.4
        Independent Alastair MacLennan8.13%119128.3
        Independent Alastair Dunlop6.42%94103.3
        Electorate: 2,599  Valid: 1,464  Spoilt: 21  Quota: 293  Turnout: 1,485 (56.34%)  

          2007 Election

          2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

          Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election, 2007: An Taobh Siar agus Nis
          PartyCandidateFPv%%SeatCount
          Independent Iain Morrison46325.911
          Independent John MacKay33518.723
          Independent Kenneth MacLeod Murray31317.535
          Independent Annie MacSween27715.5
          Independent Agnes Rennie26714.947
          Independent Iain MacLeod1186.6
          Independent Malcolm McTaggart140.8

          References

          1. "An Taobh Siar agus Nis". Scottish Government. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
          2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an lar Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
          3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
          4. "Council ward boundaries agreed". Scottish Government. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
          5. "Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an Iar Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
          6. Faulds, Allan. "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
          7. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Results 2017 Eilean Siar". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
          8. "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – 2015 Press Releases". cne-siar.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017.