2007 North Ayrshire Council election

Elections to North Ayrshire Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament elections. The election was the first one using eight new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation. The new wards replaced the 30 single-member wards which used the plurality (first past the post) system of election.

2007 North Ayrshire Council election

← 2003 3 May 2007 (2007-05-03) 2012 →
All 30 seats to North Ayrshire Council 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Lab SNP Party Labour SNP Last election 21 seats, 44.0% 3 seats, 28.1% Seats won 12 8 Seat change 9 5 Popular vote 17,666 16,081 Percentage 32.4% 29.5% Swing 11.6 1.4
Council Leader before election David O'Neill Labour Council Leader after election David O'Neill (Labour) No overall control

Labour lost overall control of the council but remained the largest party after winning 12 seats - down nine from the previous election. The Scottish National Party (SNP) became the second-largest party, overtaking the Conservatives, after gaining five seats to hold eight. The Conservatives lost two seats to hold three while the Liberal Democrats won seats in a North Ayrshire election for the only time after they returned two councillors. Five independent councillors were also elected.

Election results

2007 North Ayrshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	12	N/A	N/A	8	40.0	32.4	17,666	11.6
	SNP	8	N/A	N/A	5	26.7	29.5	16,081	1.4
	Independent	5	N/A	N/A	3	16.7	16.9	9,193	10.9
	Conservative	3	N/A	N/A	2	10.0	13.5	7,330	5.6
	Liberal Democrats	2	N/A	N/A	2	6.7	4.7	2,564	4.3
	Solidarity	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	2.1	1,127	New
	Socialist Labour	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.5	265	New
	Scottish Socialist	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.5	261	1.9
Total		33						54,487

Source: ^[1]

Ward results

Irvine West

Irvine West - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Matt Brown	31.6	2,247
	Labour	Ian Clarkson	24.0	1,710
	Conservative	Pat McPhee	11.2	799	875	883	888	1,059	1,159	1,225
	Labour	David O'Neill	10.9	776	829	881	899	979	1,077	1,726
	Solidarity	Jim Byrne	7.3	517	695	708	738	830
	Labour	John McKay	7.1	508	573	711	748	844	999
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Rubie Dale	6.4	453	613	633	655
	Socialist Labour	Bobby Cochrane	1.5	103	141	152
Electorate: 14,993   Valid: 7,113   Spoilt: 156   Quota: 1,423   Turnout: 48.5%

Source: ^[2]

Irvine East

Irvine East - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Joan Sturgeon	32.4	2,293
	Labour	Tom Barr	18.4	1,302	1,367	1,377	1,436
	Labour	Jane Gorman	12.0	851	909	916	977	990	1,076
	Labour	John Moffat	12.0	850	930	949	1,027	1,031	1,082	1,701
	Conservative	Jane Belding	10.7	759	820	828	861	862
	Liberal Democrats	Ruby Kirkwood	7.7	543	690	718	864	865	1,197	1,314
	Solidarity	Danny McGregor	5.0	355	489	578
	Scottish Socialist	Denise Morton	1.7	117	200
Electorate: 14,852   Valid: 7,070   Spoilt: 150   Quota: 1,415   Turnout: 48.6%

Source: ^[3]

Kilwinning

Kilwinning - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	John Ferguson	27.0	1,749
	Labour	Margaret McDougall	16.0	1,033	1,076	1,124	1,303
	Labour	Ryan Oldfather	13.5	872	901	921	1,136	1,142	1,226	1,306
	Conservative	Gail Niven Allison	13.4	869	914	932	953	953	1,037
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Scott Chamberlain	11.0	713	795	860	914	915	1,167	1,674
	Labour	Donald J. Reid	7.9	513	525	553
	Independent	Leanne Dorans	7.2	468	536	608	642
	Solidarity	Sandy Clarke	3.9	255	322
Electorate: 13,186   Valid: 6,472   Spoilt: 128   Quota: 1,295   Turnout: 50.0%

Source: ^[4]

Saltcoats and Stevenston

Saltcoats and Stevenston - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	William Gibson	22.4	1,629
	Independent	Ronnie McNicol	18.8	1,362	1,380	1,577
	Labour	David Munn	13.0	943	951	968	978	1,045	1,344	1,531
	Labour	Alan Munro	12.4	902	907	953	961	1,000	1,254	1,482
	SNP	Nan Wallace	9.5	691	800	890	919	1,051	1,094
	Labour	Sam Taylor	9.4	683	685	709	714	743
	Conservative	Stewart Ferguson	7.6	554	557	594	619
	Independent	Margaret Walsh	6.8	496	501
Electorate: 15,039   Valid: 7,260   Spoilt: 189   Quota: 1,453   Turnout: 49.5%

Source: ^[5]

Ardrossan and Arran

Ardrossan and Arran - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Independent	Margie Currie	19.3	1,439	1,456	1,478	1,582
	SNP	Tony Gurney	19.0	1,414	1,439	1,462	1,779
	Labour	Peter McNamara	13.5	1,007	1,019	1,033	1,051	1,085	1,094	1,763
	Independent	John Hunter	12.8	952	970	1,087	1,106	1,176	1,189	1,234	1,287	1,658
	Conservative	Gordon Allison	11.5	857	866	872	886	914	930	963	989
	Labour	Margaret Munn	11.1	829	837	848	864	884	888
	SNP	William McLaren	7.7	573	589	597
	Independent	Kenneth MacDougall	3.1	228	237
	Scottish Socialist	Nigel Hunter	1.9	144
Electorate: 13,448   Valid: 7,443   Spoilt: 146   Quota: 1,489   Turnout: 56.4%

Source: ^[6]

Dalry and West Kilbride

Dalry and West Kilbride - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Elizabeth McLardy	29.0	1,637
	Labour	John Reid	20.7	1,176	1,196	1,245	1,292	1,305	1,375	1,682
	SNP	Catherine McMillan	19.1	1,084	1,117	1,157	1,198	1,209	1,261
	Conservative	Robert Barr[note 1]	17.0	962	994	1,003	1,036	1,220	1,301	1,568
	Conservative	Ian Richardson	4.3	242	252	256	266
	Independent	David Park	3.8	213	247	264	288	301
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Clark	3.1	174	190	198
	Socialist Labour	Louise McDaid	2.9	162	182
Electorate: 9,796   Valid: 5,650   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 1,413   Turnout: 58.3%

Source: ^[7]

Kilbirnie and Beith

Kilbirnie and Beith - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	Craig Taylor	23.4	1,329	1,349	1,366	1,397	1,450
	Labour	John Bell	23.1	1,313	1,324	1,337	1,373	1,382	1,386	1,467
	Independent	Jean Highgate	16.7	947	958	993	1,024	1,151	1,157	1,371	1,374	1,810
	Labour	Donald Reid	15.0	849	854	856	878	930	933	986	1,019
	Conservative	John Smith	9.9	562	569	570	595	607	610
	Independent	John Johnstone	4.7	265	281	296	309
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Hutton	3.3	188	191	197
	Independent	William Fyfe	2.0	116	123
	Independent	Iain Walker	1.9	106
Electorate: 11,058   Valid: 5,675   Spoilt: 132   Quota: 1,419   Turnout: 52.5%

Source: ^[8]

North Coast and Cumbraes

North Coast and Cumbraes - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Alan Hill	30.2	2,357
	Labour	Alex Gallagher	19.8	1,549	1,608
	Conservative	Elisabethe Marshall	12.9	1,007	1,037	1,040	1,084	1,179	1,779
	Conservative	Tom Marshall	9.2	719	732	734	751	785
	SNP	Bobby Rae	9.2	715	1,194	1,201	1,259	1,389	1,429	1,457	1,832
	Independent	Ian Murdoch	7.5	587	622	626	793	936	980	1,038
	Liberal Democrats	Lewis Hutton	6.3	493	548	559	617
	Independent	Gerard Langan	4.8	377	411	414
Electorate: 13,519   Valid: 7,804   Spoilt: 174   Quota: 1,561   Turnout: 59.0%

Source: ^[9]

By-elections

2008 Kilbirnie and Beith by-election

A by-election arose in the Kilbirnie and Beith ward following the death of the Scottish National Party's Craig Taylor, and Anthea Dickson held the seat for the SNP on 11 December 2008.

Kilbirnie and Beith by-election (11 December 2008) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	SNP	Anthea Dickson	48.9	1,363	1,380	1,415
	Labour	Gordon McKay	33.7	939	956	972
	Conservative	Ted Nevill	11.6	322	324	342
	Liberal Democrats	Lewis Hutton	3.4	94	104
	Socialist Labour	James McDaid	2.4	68
Electorate: 11,232   Valid: 2,786   Spoilt: 20   Quota: 1,394   Turnout: 25.0%

Source: ^[10]

2011 Saltcoats and Stevenston by-election

A by-election arose in the Saltcoats and Stevenston ward following the resignation of the Labour Party's David Munn, and Jim Montgomorie held the seat for Labour on 25 August 2011.

Saltcoats and Stevenston by-election (25 August 2011) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Jim Montgomerie	48.7	1,914	1,927	1,936	1,963	2,039
	SNP	Nan Wallace	33.2	1,306	1,311	1,326	1,363	1,425
	Conservative	Chris Barr	7.2	284	286	297	308	331
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Jimmy Miller	5.4	211	217	222	240
	Independent	Gerard Pollock	2.9	114	117	123
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Bain	1.4	56	57
	Socialist Labour	Louise McDaid	1.1	43
Electorate: 11,039   Valid: 2,764   Spoilt: 42   Quota: 1,965   Turnout: 25.4%

Source: ^[11]

Notes

1. Cllr Robert Barr quit the Conservatives on 24 June 2010 and became an independent.

References

1. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - North Ayrshire". Retrieved 19 January 2024.
2. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Irvine West Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
3. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Irvine East Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
4. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Kilwinning Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
5. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Saltcoats and Stevenston Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
6. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Ardrossan and Arran Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
7. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Dalry and West Kilbride Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
8. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: Kilbrine and Beith Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
9. "Local Government Elections 2007: Declaration of result North Ayrshire Council: North Coast and Cumbraes Electoral Ward" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
10. "Local Government By Election – Thursday 11 December 2008 North Ayrshire Council- Electoral Ward 7 – Kilbirnie and Beith" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
11. "By-election Ward 4" (PDF). North Ayrshire Council. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2024.