North Ayrshire and Arran (UK Parliament constituency)

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North Ayrshire and Arran
constituency
Unknown parliament UK.
NorthAyrshireArranConstituency.svg
North Ayrshire and Arran shown within Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland North Ayrshire
Population135,000 (2008, approx.)
Electorate 74,985 (approx.)
Major settlements Ardrossan, Dalry, Kilwinning, Largs, Saltcoats, Stevenston, Kilbirnie
Current constituency
Created2005 (2005)
Member of Parliament / Assembly member Irene Campbell (Labour)
Created from Cunninghame North

North Ayrshire and Arran is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south-west of Scotland within the North Ayrshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post voting system of voting.

Contents

Once a longtime Conservative seat, the area had been represented by Labour MPs from 1987 until 2015. Patricia Gibson, held the seat as an SNP member from 2015 to 2024.

It contains the towns of Largs, Fairlie and West Kilbride to the north, as well as the towns of Ardrossan, Kilbirnie, the Garnock Valley, Kilwinning, Saltcoats and Stevenston to the south. The Isle of Arran and Great Cumbrae are also within the constituency.

Boundaries

North Ayrshire and Arran (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of current boundaries

The constituency is entirely within the North Ayrshire council area. Part of the same council area is covered by the Central Ayrshire constituency.

The boundaries of North Ayrshire and Arran extend to, and include, Skelmorlie in the north of the council area, Irvine in the south, Beith in the east, and the islands of Arran and Cumbrae in the west.

Constituency profile

A view of Ardrossan Ardrossan Scotland.jpg
A view of Ardrossan

The seat takes in many towns and villages which have some very affluent areas and more working class areas, The towns of Skelmorlie, Largs, Fairlie and West Kilbride in the north are affluent commuter towns, while Ardrossan, Saltcoats, and Stevenston in the south are rather more industrial, However, regeneration is taking place at Ardrossan Harbour and there has been a rapid increase in new build housing in recent years. Inland, the seat takes in the Garnock valley towns of Dalry, Beith and Kilbirnie, once a centre of steel and textile production long since gone. Tourism is the main industry on Arran and Cumbrae, however the number of holiday homes on the latter has begun to squeeze locals out of the housing market. The seat has two nuclear power stations, Hunterston A nuclear power station (currently being decommissioned) and Hunterston B nuclear power station, as well as a windfarm at Ardrossan. Kilwinning which is North Ayrshire's second largest town in the south of the constituency has many very affluent areas as well as working class areas but while the constituency maybe seen as working class as a whole, It is considered mixed due to the wealthy and working class areas within it

History

The constituency of North Ayrshire was created in 1868 and was much larger than the present constituency, as it also included the towns of Irvine and Kilmarnock. It returned various Liberal, Liberal Unionist and Conservative MP's, the most well known of whom being Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston, a general in the First World War who served as MP from 1916 to 1935 first for North Ayrshire and then for Bute and Northern Ayrshire which was created in 1918. Another well-known MP was Sir Fitzroy Maclean, a major-general in the Second World War who was rumoured to be one of Ian Fleming's inspirations for James Bond.

In 1983, the Cunninghame North constituency was created. From 1911 to 1987, the constituencies containing North Ayrshire returned either Conservative Party or Unionist Party MP's until the 1987 general election when the constituency was lost to the Labour Party. In 2015, the seat was won by the SNP. In the 2017 general election the SNP held the seat with a much reduced majority, with the Conservatives more than doubling their vote share.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [1] Party
2005 Katy Clark Labour
2015 Patricia Gibson SNP
2024 Irene Campbell Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: North Ayrshire and Arran [2] [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Irene Campbell 16,821 39.8 +25.9
SNP Patricia Gibson 13,27031.4−17.1
Conservative Todd Ferguson5,95414.1−16.7
Reform UK Michael Mann3,4158.1N/A
Scottish Green Cara McKee1,3273.1+0.8
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton 1,0052.4−2.0
SDP Ian Gibson2380.6N/A
Socialist Labour James McDaid2320.5N/A
Majority3,5518.4N/A
Turnout 42,42358.8−6.8
Registered electors 72,176
Labour gain from SNP Swing +21.5

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: North Ayrshire and Arran [4] [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Patricia Gibson 23,376 48.5 +9.6
Conservative David Rocks14,85530.8−0.4
Labour Cameron Gilmore6,70213.9−13.6
Liberal Democrats Louise Young2,1074.4+2.0
Scottish Green David Nairn1,1142.3New
Majority8,52117.7+10.0
Turnout 48,15465.5+0.7
SNP hold Swing +5.0
General election 2017: North Ayrshire and Arran [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Patricia Gibson 18,451 38.9 −14.3
Conservative David Rocks14,81831.2+16.4
Labour Christopher Rimicans13,04027.5−0.5
Liberal Democrats Mark Dickson1,1242.4+0.7
Majority3,6337.7−17.5
Turnout 47,43364.8−6.3
SNP hold Swing -15.4
General election 2015: North Ayrshire and Arran [7] [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Patricia Gibson 28,641 53.2 +27.3
Labour Katy Clark 15,06828.0−19.4
Conservative Jamie Greene 7,96814.8−0.8
UKIP Sharon McGonigal [10] 1,2962.4New
Liberal Democrats Ruby Kirkwood8961.7−8.3
Majority13,57325.2N/A
Turnout 53,86971.1+9.6
SNP gain from Labour Swing +23.3
General election 2010: North Ayrshire and Arran [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Katy Clark 21,860 47.4 +3.5
SNP Patricia Gibson 11,96525.9+7.9
Conservative Philip Lardner7,21215.6−2.8
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton 4,63010.0−6.4
Socialist Labour Louise McDaid4491.0+0.3
Majority9,89521.5−4.1
Turnout 46,11661.5+1.6
Labour hold Swing

2010 general election Campaign

The Conservative Party candidate Philip Lardner was dropped as their official candidate and suspended from his job (but later reinstated) as a Primary School teacher following comments he had made, in which he described homosexuality as "not normal behaviour". As nominations for candidates had closed, however, the Conservatives were unable to replace him. In 2008 he had previously been suspended as a candidate for the same seat by the Conservatives over claims he made racist remarks, but was later reinstated as the candidate for this seat and exonerated by the Party. Lardner is recorded by the BBC as an "Independent", due to him being "disowned" by the Conservative Party prior to polling day, however, on the actual ballot paper he was still described as a "Scottish Conservatives & Unionist". [12]

The Labour Party chose Katy Clark, the incumbent MP and former trade union official to re-contest the seat. Clark was considered to be quite a left-wing Labour MP as she voted against replacing Trident and was a member of the Scottish Campaign for Socialism.

The Scottish National Party narrowly won the seat of Cunninghame North during the 2007 Scottish parliamentary election and wished to capitalise on this success during the general election. They chose 41-year-old retired English teacher Cllr Patricia Gibson to contest the seat.

The Liberal Democrats chose primary teacher Gillian Cole-Hamilton and Louise McDaid of the Socialist Labour Party also contested the seat as she has done for several elections.

Percentage vote change and percentage swing for the 2005 results are based on notional results on how this constituency would have performed in the 2001 UK General Election.

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North Ayrshire and Arran [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Katy Clark 19,417 43.9 −4.5
Conservative Stewart Connell8,12118.4+0.9
SNP Tony Gurney7,93818.0−3.0
Liberal Democrats George White7,26416.4+7.6
Scottish Socialist Colin Turbett7801.8−1.4
UKIP John Pursley3820.9New
Socialist Labour Louise McDaid3030.7−0.5
Majority11,29625.6−1.9
Turnout 44,20559.9−0.8
Labour hold Swing -2.7

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References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
  2. ↑ "Declaration of Result of Poll UK Parliamentary Election - North Ayrshire and Arran" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "North Ayrshire and Arran results". BBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Forthcoming ElectionsMinimize". North Ayrshire Council. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ayrshire North & Arran parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" . Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Ayrshire North & Arran parliamentary constituency - Election 2017 - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ↑ http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/UKParliamentaryElectionsNorthAyrshireandArran.aspx 18Aug15
  9. ↑ "UK Election Results: Ayrshire North & Arran 2015".
  10. ↑ "UK Polling Report".
  11. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "General Election Results 2010". North Ayrshire Council. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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