# Cunninghame South (UK Parliament constituency)

Cunninghame South was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster) from 1983 until 2005. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post system of election.
In 2005 a northern area of the constituency was merged with Cunninghame North to form North Ayrshire and Arran. The rest of the Cunninghame South constituency was merged with a northern area from Ayr and a small area from Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley to form Central Ayrshire.
The Cunninghame South constituency of the Scottish Parliament, which was created in 1999 with the same boundaries as the Westminster constituency, continues in existence unaltered.

## Boundaries

The Cunninghame District electoral divisions of Irvine Central, Irvine South, and Kilwinning and Stevenston.
The constituency was created to cover part of the Cunninghame district of the Strathclyde region, and it included the town of Irvine. The rest of the district was covered by Cunninghame North.
In 1996 the Cunninghame district was reconstituted as the North Ayrshire council area, but the constituency boundaries remained unchanged until the seat disappeared in 2005.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party | Notes |
| 1983 | Constituency created, see Bute and Northern Ayrshire and Central Ayrshire | Constituency created, see Bute and Northern Ayrshire and Central Ayrshire | Constituency created, see Bute and Northern Ayrshire and Central Ayrshire |
| 1983 | David Lambie | Labour | Previous MP for Central Ayrshire |
| 1992 | Brian Donohoe | Labour | Subsequent MP for Central Ayrshire |
| 2005 | Constituency abolished, see Central Ayrshire and North Ayrshire and Arran | Constituency abolished, see Central Ayrshire and North Ayrshire and Arran | Constituency abolished, see Central Ayrshire and North Ayrshire and Arran |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Cunninghame South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 19,344 | 54.1 | −0.2 |
| | Conservative | Phil Gallie | 7,576 | 21.2 | −5.5 |
| | Liberal | John Alan Boss | 6,370 | 17.8 | +9.2 |
| | SNP | Kay Ullrich | 2,451 | 6.9 | −3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,768 | 32.9 | −5.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,741 | 73.6 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1987: Cunninghame South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 22,728 | 60.8 | +6.7 |
| | Conservative | Eric Gibson | 6,095 | 16.3 | −4.9 |
| | Liberal | John Boss | 4,426 | 11.9 | −5.9 |
| | SNP | Kay Ullrich | 4,115 | 11.0 | +4.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,633 | 46.6 | +13.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,364 | 75.0 | +1.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +6.8 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Cunninghame South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Brian Donohoe | 19,687 | 52.9 | −7.9 |
| | SNP | Ricky Bell | 9,007 | 24.2 | +13.2 |
| | Conservative | Sebastian Leslie | 6,070 | 16.3 | 0.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian Ashley | 2,299 | 6.2 | −5.7 |
| | Natural Law | William Jackson | 128 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,680 | 28.7 | −17.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,191 | 75.9 | +0.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1997: Cunninghame South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Brian Donohoe | 22,233 | 62.7 | +9.8 |
| | SNP | Margaret Burgess | 7,364 | 20.8 | −3.4 |
| | Conservative | Pamela M. Paterson | 3,571 | 10.1 | −6.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Erlend Watson | 1,604 | 4.5 | −1.7 |
| | Socialist Labour | Krishna Edwin | 494 | 1.4 | New |
| | Referendum | Allan Martlew | 178 | 0.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,869 | 41.9 | +13.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,444 | 71.5 | −4.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Cunninghame South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Brian Donohoe | 16,424 | 58.4 | −4.3 |
| | SNP | Bill Kidd | 5,194 | 18.5 | −2.3 |
| | Conservative | Pamela Paterson | 2,782 | 9.9 | −0.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Boyd | 2,094 | 7.4 | +2.9 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Rosemary Byrne | 1,233 | 4.4 | New |
| | Socialist Labour | Bobby Cochrane | 382 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,230 | 39.9 | −2.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,109 | 56.2 | −15.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |