Kilmarnock South (ward)

Kilmarnock South
East Ayrshire
Boundary of Kilmarnock South in East Ayrshire from 2007–2017.
Population	10,866 (2021) [1]
Electorate	8,186 (2022)
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	Jim Todd (SNP)
Councillor	Peter Mabon (Labour)
Councillor	Claire Maitland (SNP)
Created from	Bellfield Riccarton Shortlees

Kilmarnock South 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 10,866 people.

The area is a Scottish National Party (SNP) stronghold with the party holding two of the three seats at every election.

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 South was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards.

It contains all of the former Shortlees and Bellfield wards as well as most of the former Riccarton ward. The only minor alteration to the previous ward boundaries was along the former Riccarton boundary which was brought south to run along the A71 rather than along the River Irvine to the north of the road. Kilmarnock South includes the southernmost part of Kilmarnock including the neighbourhoods of Shortlees, Bellfield and Riccarton as well as an area between Kilmarnock and the council's boundary with South Ayrshire. ^[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's boundaries were not changed. ^[3]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Hugh Ross (SNP)		Jim Todd (SNP)		John Knapp (Labour)
2012
2017	Clare Maitland (SNP)
2022		Peter Mabon (Labour)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock South – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Jim Todd (incumbent)	32.6	990
	Labour	Peter Mabon	31.4	954
	SNP	Claire Maitland (incumbent)	20.7	627	828
	Conservative	Robin Bawa	12.2	370	374
	Alba	Stewart John McLintock	1.9	57	62
	Scottish Libertarian	Keyrin James Von-Döring	1.3	38	40
Electorate: 8,186  Valid: 3,036  Spoilt: 67  Quota: 760  Turnout: 37.9%

Source: ^{[4] [5]}

2017 election

Main article: 2017 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock South - 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Jim Todd (incumbent)	36.5	1,190
	Labour	John Knapp (incumbent)	32.9	1,073
	SNP	Clare Maitland	18.2	593	914
	Conservative	Billy McClure	11.7	382	387
	Scottish Libertarian	Caitlin O'Brien	0.7	24	29
Electorate: 8,028  Valid: 3,262  Spoilt: 62  Quota: 816  Turnout: 41.4%

Source: ^[6]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock South – 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Labour	John Knapp (incumbent)	37.6	1,250
	SNP	Jim Todd (incumbent)	23.8	791	814	822	949
	SNP	Hugh Ross (incumbent)	22.1	735	759	789	924
	Labour	Ronnie Scott	12.5	417	743	785
	Conservative	Alyson Holden	4.1	135	138
Electorate: 8,288  Valid: 3,328  Spoilt: 93  Quota: 833  Turnout: 40.2%

Source: ^{[7] [8]}

2007 election

Main article: 2007 East Ayrshire Council election

Kilmarnock South - 3 members

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	John Knapp	38.7	1,708
	SNP	Hugh Ross	25.0	1,104	1,144
	SNP	Jim Todd	19.7	870	894	926	954	1,018	1,272
	Labour	Ray Murray	9.0	398	800	801	825	901
	Conservative	Tamzin Hobday	5.9	262	276	277	289
	Scottish Socialist	Kevin McGregor	1.7	77	91	91
Electorate: 8,328  Valid: 4,419  Spoilt: 131  Quota: 1,105  Turnout: 53.1%

Source: ^[9]

References

1. "Kilmarnock South". Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
4. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 5 Kilmarnock South" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
5. "Detailed Results Ward 5 Kilmarnock South" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
6. "Detailed Results Report Ward 5 - Kilmarnock South" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
7. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 5 Kilmarnock South" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
8. "Detailed Results Ward 5 Kilmarnock South" (PDF). East Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
9. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - East Ayrshire" . Retrieved 3 November 2022.