Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election, 1977

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The 1977 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council Election was held on 3 May 1977, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections, and constituted the second election for the Council.

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities designated as councils which consist of councillors elected every five years by registered voters in each of the council areas.

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Cumnock and Doon Valley was part of the area covered by the South Ayrshire parliamentary constituency. Since 1970 the constituency had been held by the Labour MP Jim Sillars, although Sillars had left the party in 1976 in part due a belief that the Labour party's devolution proposals had been lackluster. Having left Labour, Sillars helped found the Scottish Labour Party alongside John Robertson and Alex Neil.

Cumnock and Doon Valley

Cumnock and Doon Valley was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1973 to 1996.

South Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until 1983, when it was abolished. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first past the post voting system.

James Sillars is a Scottish politician and a leading figure in the campaign for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro-Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Party in 1976, continuing as MP for South Ayrshire until he lost the seat in 1979. Sillars joined the Scottish National Party in 1980 and later served as MP for Glasgow Govan after winning a by-election in 1988, and was Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party. He was married to Margo MacDonald until her death in 2014.

The 1977 Scottish District Elections proved to be the SLP's first test. Ultimately, however, the party fared poorly, with their best result being seen in Cumnock and Doon Valley. Even here, however, the party only won 2 of the councils 10 seats, although the nationalist parties - the SLP and SNP - between them polled some 42% of the vote.

Election results

Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council Election Result 1977 [1]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 624Decrease2.svg240.14,613
  SLP 220Increase2.svg224.72,845
  Conservative 111Steady2.svg8.3954
  Independent 110Increase2.svg16.4732
  SNP 000Steady2.svg0.0017.31,984
  Independent Labour 001Decrease2.svg10.003.2373

Ward results

3. Old Cumnock Parish [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
SLP W. Pender54351.8
Labour J. Smith50648.2
Majority37
Turnout 44.0
SLP gain from Labour Swing
8. Patna/Dalrymple [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
SLP T. Hainey73439.4
Labour M. Rooney63634.1
SNP G. Guthrie49526.5
Majority98
Turnout 59.0
SLP gain from Labour Swing

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