Kilmarnock North (ward)

Kilmarnock North
East Ayrshire
Boundary of Kilmarnock North in East Ayrshire from 2007–2017.
Population	12,243 (2021) [1]
Electorate	9,726 (2025)
Major settlements	Kilmarnock (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley
Scottish Parliament region	South Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudon
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	3
Councillor	Elaine Cowan (SNP)
Councillor	David William Richardson (SNP)
Councillor	Maureen McKay (Labour)
Created from	Altonhill, Hillhead and Longpark Kilmaurs and Stewarton South North Kilmarnock, Fenwick and Waterside North New Farm Loch and Dean Onthank

Kilmarnock North is one of the nine electoral wards of East Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 12,243 people.

The area is a Scottish National Party (SNP) stronghold with the party holding two of the three seats at all but one election since the ward's creation.

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 Kilmarnock North was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Onthank ward as well as parts of the former Kilmaurs and Stewarton South, |North Kilmarnock, Fenwick and Waterside, Altonhill, Hillhead and Longpark and North New Farm Loch and Dean wards.

Initially, Kilmarnock North included the northernmost part of Kilmarnock including the neighbourhoods of Onthank, Altonhill, Hillhead, Longpark and Southcraigs as well as Dean Castle Country Park. ^[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's eastern boundary was moved west to run along the B7038 instead of the Kilmarnock Water and Craufurdland Water. As a result, Dean Castle Country Park is now contained within the Kilmarnock East and Hurlford ward. ^[3]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Willie Coffey (SNP)		Helen Coffey (SNP)		Maureen McKay (Labour)
2012	Andrew Hershaw (SNP)
2014 by-election	Elaine Cowan (SNP)
2017		Ian Grant (Conservative)
2022		Elaine Cowan (SNP)	David William Richardson (SNP)
2025 by-election				Caroline Barton (SNP)

Election results

2025 by-election

Kilmarnock North by-election (20 February 2025) – 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Caroline Barton	35.7	748	748	751	778	788	809	867	1,067
	Labour	Greg MacKenzie	27.8	582	582	592	612	648	673	764
	Independent	Ian Grant	13.2	277	277	286	294	326	395
	Reform UK	Sandra Kirkwood	10.1	212	212	213	215	241
	Conservative	Allan MacDonald	7.6	159	159	163	167
	Scottish Green	Finlay Affleck	0.8	75	76	78
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Manley	1.7	37	37
	Independent	Stephen McNamara	0.1	2
Electorate: 9,726  Valid: 2,092  Spoilt: 18  Quota: 1,047  Turnout: 21.7%

Source: ^{[4] [5]}

2022 election

Main article: 2022 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock North – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Elaine Cowan	38.2	1,483
	Labour	Maureen McKay (incumbent)	27.9	1,084
	Conservative	Allan MacDonald	13.8	536	542	566	574	713
	SNP	David William Richardson	9.4	364	788	804	855	939	1,035
	Independent	Ian Grant (incumbent)	8.1	316	343	366	397
	Alba	Wendy MacDonald	2.6	99	113	119
Electorate: 9,748  Valid: 3,882  Spoilt: 53  Quota: 971  Turnout: 40.4%

Source: ^{[6] [7]}

2017 election

Main article: 2017 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock North - 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Helen Coffey (incumbent)	36.9	1,381
	Conservative	Ian Grant	26.0	971
	Labour	Maureen McKay (incumbent)	23.1	865	885	900	924	1,300
	SNP	Elaine Cowan (incumbent)	12.9	481	884	886	893
	Scottish Libertarian	Lisa Murray	1.1	41	44	47
Electorate: 9,109  Valid: 3,739  Spoilt: 40  Quota: 935  Turnout: 41.5%

Source: ^[8]

2014 by-election

Kilmarnock North by-election (27 March 2014) – 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Elaine Cowan	44.2	1,334	1,358	1,473	2,042
	Labour	Scott Thomson	37.4	1,130	1,147	1,320
	Conservative	Ian Grant	16.3	493	501
	Scottish Green	Robin Tatler	2.0	61
Electorate: 9,657  Valid: 3,018  Spoilt: 19  Quota: 1,510  Turnout: 35.6%

Source: ^[9]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock North – 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	SNP	Helen Coffey (incumbent)	44.7	1,475
	Labour	Maureen McKay (incumbent)	35.7	1,176
	Conservative	Ian Grant	11.6	383	417	476
	SNP	Andrew Hershaw [note 1]	8.0	263	817	921
Electorate: 9,324  Valid: 3,297  Spoilt: 40  Quota: 825  Turnout: 35.4%

Source: ^{[11] [12]}

2007 election

Main article: 2007 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock North - 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Willie Coffey	34.5	1,552
	Labour	Maureen McKay	26.7	1,202
	SNP	Helen Coffey	21.2	952	1,317
	Conservative	James Adams	15.8	709	720
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Rutherford	1.9	85	89
Electorate: 8,617  Valid: 4,500  Spoilt: 88  Quota: 1,126  Turnout: 52.2%

Source: ^[13]

Notes

1. Kilmarnock North councillor Andrew Hershaw died on 31 December 2013. ^[10] A by-election was held on 27 March 2014.

References

1. "Kilmarnock North". Scottish Government. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
4. "Declaration of Results Ward 2 - Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
5. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 2 - Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
6. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 2 Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
7. "Detailed Results Ward 2 Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
8. "Detailed Results Report Ward 2 - Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
9. "Detailed Results Report Ward 2 - Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
10. Andrew Hershaw – The Herald|HighBeam Research
11. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 2 Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
12. "Detailed Results Ward 2 Kilmarnock North" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
13. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - East Ayrshire" . Retrieved 3 November 2022.