# An Taobh Siar agus Nis

An Taobh Siar agus Nis (Scottish Gaelic for 'West Side and Ness') is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Scottish Gaelic for 'Council of the Western Isles'). Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a four-member ward, the number of members elected in An Taobh Siar agus Nis was reduced following a boundary review and it has elected three councillors since the 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.
Independents have dominated elections in the Western Isles and the majority of councillors elected in the area have had no party affiliation. However, since 2012, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have held one of the seats.

## 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 An Taobh Siar agus Nis was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Dell and Port of Ness wards, the majority of the former Barvas and Arnol and Shawbost wards as well as part of the former Carloway, Gress and Laxdale wards. The ward centres around the towns of Barvas and Port of Ness in the northwest of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It includes the remote and uninhabited Isle of Rona in the north Atlantic Ocean – the northernmost part of the council area. Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have extended the ward south to include Carloway. However, these were not adopted by Scottish ministers as plans for the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 would bring forward an interim review following the 2017 elections.
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 allowed for the creation of single- and dual-member wards to allow for better representation of island areas. The boundaries for An Taobh Siar agus Nis were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act. However, the ward was reduced from a four-member ward to a three-member ward to improve electoral parity.

## Councillors

| Year | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors |
| 2007 | | Agnes Rennie (Independent) | | John MacKay (Independent) | Kenneth M. Murray (Independent) | Iain Morrison (Independent) |
| 2012 | | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | | John MacKay (Independent) | Kenneth M. Murray (Independent) | Iain Morrison (Independent) |
| March 2015 | Alistair MacLennan (Independent) | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | | John MacKay (Independent) | | Iain Morrison (Independent) |
| October 2015 | Alistair MacLennan (Independent) | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | John N. McLeod (Independent) | John MacKay (Independent) |
| 2017 | Kenny J. MacLeod (Independent) | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | John N. McLeod (Independent) | John MacKay (Independent) |
| 2022 | Kenny J. MacLeod (Independent) | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | Donald McSween (Independent) | |

## Election results
### 2022 election

An Taobh Siar agus Nis – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Independent | John N. MacLeod (incumbent) | 25.0 | 346 | 356 | | | | |
| | SNP | Kenny MacLeod (incumbent) | 21.8 | 302 | 365 | | | | |
| | Independent | Donald MacSween | 19.6 | 271 | 282 | 288 | 290 | 339 | 479 |
| | Independent | Dorothy Morrison | 16.8 | 233 | 242 | 248 | 250 | 283 | |
| | Independent | Donald J. MacLeod | 9.5 | 131 | 133 | 135 | 138 | | |
| | SNP | Finlay J. MacLeod | 7.4 | 102 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 2,552 Valid: 1,414 Spoilt: 29 Quota: 347 Turnout: 55.4% ||||||||||
Source:

### 2017 election

An Taobh Siar agus Nis – 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Independent | John N. MacLeod (incumbent) | 23.7 | 339 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Kenneth MacLeod (incumbent) | 19.4 | 277 | 286 | | | | |
| | Independent | Kenny J. MacLeod | 16.7 | 239 | 260 | 261 | 310 | | |
| | Independent | John MacKay (incumbent) | 15.4 | 220 | 224 | 224 | 254 | 261 | 339 |
| | Independent | Alistair MacLennan (incumbent) | 13.5 | 193 | 200 | 201 | 238 | 247 | |
| | Independent | Malcolm McTaggart | 11.3 | 161 | 164 | 164 | | | |
| Electorate: 2,541 Valid: 1,429 Spoilt: 35 Quota: 286 Turnout: 57.6% ||||||||||
Source:

### 2015 By-election

An Taobh Siar agus Nis By-election (7 October 2015) – 1 Seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Independent | John Norman MacLeod | 86.9% | 886 |
| | Independent | Richard Froggatt | 7.4% | 75 |
| | Scottish Green | Gavin MacLeod Humphreys | 5.8% | 59 |
| Valid: 1,020 Quota: 511 Turnout: (39.8%) |||||

### 2012 Election

2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
An Taobh Siar agus Nis - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | Independent | Iain Morrison (incumbent)†††† | 24.18% | 354 | |
| | Independent | John MacKay (incumbent) | 21.17% | 310 | |
| | SNP | Kenneth MacLeod | 20.36% | 298 | |
| | Independent | Kenneth MacLeod Murray (incumbent) †† | 19.74% | 289 | 316.4 |
| | Independent | Alastair MacLennan | 8.13% | 119 | 128.3 |
| | Independent | Alastair Dunlop | 6.42% | 94 | 103.3 |
| Electorate: 2,599 Valid: 1,464 Spoilt: 21 Quota: 293 Turnout: 1,485 (56.34%) ||||||

### 2007 Election

2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election, 2007: An Taobh Siar agus Nis :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| Independent | Iain Morrison | 463 | 25.9 | 1 | 1 |
| Independent | John MacKay | 335 | 18.7 | 2 | 3 |
| Independent | Kenneth MacLeod Murray | 313 | 17.5 | 3 | 5 |
| Independent | Annie MacSween | 277 | 15.5 | | |
| Independent | Agnes Rennie | 267 | 14.9 | 4 | 7 |
| Independent | Iain MacLeod | 118 | 6.6 | | |
| Independent | Malcolm McTaggart | 14 | 0.8 | | |