North West Dumfries (ward)

North West Dumfries
Dumfries and Galloway
Boundary of North West Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway from 2017.
Population	14,705 (2021) [1]
Electorate	10,203 (2022)
Major settlements	Dumfries (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Galloway and West Dumfries
Scottish Parliament region	South Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Dumfries and Galloway
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	4
Councillor	Andy Ferguson (SNP)
Councillor	Graham Bell (Conservative)
Councillor	Emma Jordan (Labour)
Councillor	Paula Stevenson (Labour)
Created from	Criffel Lincluden Lochside Maxwelltown Palmerston

North West Dumfries is one of the twelve electoral wards of Dumfries and Galloway Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 14,705 people.

The area has produced strong results for Labour who have half the seats at each election since the ward's creation.

Boundaries

The ward was created by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland 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 Abbey was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Lincluden, Lochside and Palmerston wards and the majority of the former Maxwelltown as well as part of the former Criffel ward. North West Dumfries takes in the north and west of the town of Dumfries – everything west of the River Nith and north of Park Road/Rotchell Road – in the east of the council area. It includes the neighbourhoods of Lincluden, Lochside, Lochfield, Summerville, Laurieknowe and Suffolk Hill as well as the village of Newbridge to the north of the town. ^[2] The ward's boundaries were unchanged following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements conducted by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections. ^[3]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Ronnie Nicholson (Labour)		John Graham Bell (Conservative)		David John McKie (Labour)		Doug Snell (SNP)
2012	Andy Ferguson (SNP)
2017
2022		Paula Stevenson (Labour)	Emma Jordan (Labour)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

North West Dumfries - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Andy Ferguson (incumbent)	39.5	1,561
	Conservative	Graham Bell (incumbent)	28.4	1,123
	Labour	Emma Jordan	18.4	728	919
	Labour	Paula Stevenson	8.8	347	404	495	607	909
	Scottish Green	Ann Johnstone	4.8	191	526	571	579
Electorate: 10,203  Valid: 3,950  Spoilt: 62  Quota: 791  Turnout: 39.3%

Source: ^{[4] [5]}

2017 election

2017 Dumfries and Galloway Council election ^[6]

North West Dumfries - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	John Graham Bell (incumbent)	32.54	1,374
	SNP	Andy Ferguson (incumbent)	16.41	693	708.02	736.4	774.41	1,314.26
	Labour	Ronnie Nicholson (incumbent)††	16.08	679	722.51	732.59	763.44	778.6
	Labour	David John McKie (incumbent)	14.47	611	694.93	720.86	784.57	809.27
	SNP	Stacy Bradley	13.60	574	588.25	613.02	642.33
	Independent	Billy Farries	3.86	163	268.88	304.73
	Scottish Green	Michelle Johnston	3.03	128	156.49
Electorate: 9,981  Valid: 4,222  Spoilt: 112  Quota: 845  Turnout: 42.3

2012 election

2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election ^[7]

North West Dumfries - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Ronnie Nicholson (incumbent)	23.25	932
	Conservative	John Graham Bell (incumbent)	22.43	899
	Labour	David John McKie (incumbent)	21.38	857
	SNP	Andy Ferguson	18.44	739	746.1	768.5	773.2	982.1
	Labour	Paula Stevenson	14.50	581	690.1	702.2	746.7
Electorate: 9,906  Valid: 4,008  Spoilt: 66  Quota: 802  Turnout: 4,074 (40.46%)

2007 election

2007 Dumfries and Galloway Council election ^[8]

North West Dumfries

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Ronnie Nicholson	25.6	1,327
	Conservative	John Graham Bell	20.4	1,060
	Labour	David John McKie	19.2	996	1,132.95
	SNP	Doug Snell	15.6	809	819.85	824.49	827.34	864.91	950.22	1,179.06
	Labour	Stephen David Harman	12.5	650	722.49	789.41	790.64	823.31	868.90
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Sweeney	3.6	188	192.12	194.25	197.99	240.41
	Independent	Arthur Tremble	3.1	163	169.73	173.46	177.52
Electorate: 9,794  Valid: 5,193  Spoilt: 124  Quota: 1,039  Turnout: 54.3%

References

1. "North West Dumfries". Scottish Government. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Dumfries and Galloway Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Dumfries and Galloway Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
4. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 6 - North West Dumfries" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
5. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 6 - North West Dumfries" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
6. "Council elections - May 2017". Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
7. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2012 - Dumfries and Galloway". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
8. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - Dumfries and Galloway". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 21 April 2025.