Castle Douglas and Crocketford (ward)

Castle Douglas and Crocketford
Dumfries and Galloway
Boundary of Castle Douglas and Crocketford in Dumfries and Galloway from 2017.
Population	7,751 (2021) [1]
Electorate	8,632 (2022)
Major settlements	Castle Douglas
Scottish Parliament constituency	Galloway and West Dumfries
Scottish Parliament region	South Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Dumfries and Galloway
Current ward
Created	2017 (2017)
Number of councillors	3
Councillor	Pauline Drysdale (Conservative)
Councillor	John Young (SNP)
Councillor	Ian Howie (Independent)
Created from	Abbey Castle Douglas and Glenkens

Castle Douglas and Crocketford is one of the twelve electoral wards of Dumfries and Galloway Council. Created in 2017, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 7,751 people.

The area has produced strong results for the Conservatives who have taken one seat and at least 35 per cent of the vote at each election.

Boundaries

The ward was created by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections. Five of the 13 multi-member wards in Dumfries and Galloway were abolished as a result of the review and replaced by four new ones. Castle Douglas and Crocketford encompasses an area represented by the former Castle Douglas and Glenkens ward and an area that was previously part of the Abbey ward on the Solway Firth coast in the Irish Sea at the mouth of the Urr Water. The ward takes in a central southern area of Dumfries and Galloway. It is situated within Galloway and takes in part of the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire between the Dee and Glenkens, Mid and Upper Nithsdale, Lochar, North West Dumfries and Abbey wards. The ward takes its name from the two principal settlements within it – Castle Douglas and Crocketford. It includes the villages of Terregles, Crossmichael, Corsock, Kirkpatrick Durham, Springholm, Haugh of Urr, Beeswing, Kirkgunzeon and Palnackie. ^[2]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2017		David James (Conservative)		Ian Howie (Ind.)		John Young (SNP)
2022	Pauline Drysdale (Conservative)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

Castle Douglas and Crocketford - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Conservative	Pauline Drysdale	30.2	1,220
	SNP	John Young (incumbent)	25.1	1,012
	Independent	Iain Howie (incumbent)	10.0	403	425	425	468	521	582	827	1,115
	Independent	Gill Dykes	9.6	386	409	409	432	463	550
	Liberal Democrats	Iain McDonald	7.8	313	329	329	382	495	553	633
	Scottish Green	Liz Ashburn	6.0	243	244	245
	Labour	Keith Heron	6.0	241	246	247	316
	Conservative	Iain Kennedy-Moffat	5.3	215	341	341	349	361
Electorate: 7,751  Valid: 4,033  Spoilt: 59  Quota: 1,009  Turnout: 52.8%

Source: ^{[3] [4]}

2017 election

2017 Dumfries and Galloway Council election ^[5]

Castle Douglas and Crocketford - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	David James†††	35.79	1,346
	Independent	Iain Howie	23.96	901	1,033.99
	SNP	John Young	20.10	756	761.72	772.23	837.81	928.28	1,099.88
	Independent	George Nicol Prentice (incumbent)	9.70	365	451.66	496.45	522.15	628.9
	Labour	Lucy McKie	7.02	264	307.03	316.87	354.5
	Scottish Green	Paul Taylorson	3.43	129	147.66	155.77
Electorate: 7,433  Valid: 3,761  Spoilt: 41  Quota: 941  Turnout: 50.6

References

1. "Castle Douglas and Crocketford". Scottish Government. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
2. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Dumfroes and Galloway Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
3. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 4 - Castle Douglas and Crocketford" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
4. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 4 - Castle Douglas and Crocketford" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
5. "Council elections - May 2017". Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 20 April 2025.