# Loch a Tuath (ward)

Loch a Tuath (Scottish Gaelic for 'Broad Bay', lit. 'North Loch'') 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 and covers an area with a population of 2,654 people.
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 Loch a Tuath was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Coll ward, the majority of the former Blackwater, Gress and Laxdale wards as well as part of the former Barvas and Arnol, Braighe and Carloway wards. The ward centres around the towns of Coll and North Tolsta in the northeast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have maintained the ward's original boundaries. 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 and number of members representing Loch a Tuath were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act.

## Councillors

| Election | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors |
| 2007 | | John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP) | | Kenneth MacIver (Independent) | Catriona Stewart (Independent) |
| 2012 | | John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP) | Donald Finlayson Crichton (Independent) | | Catriona Stewart (Independent) |
| 2017 | Callum McLean (Independent) | John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP) | Donald Finlayson Crichton (Independent) |
| 2022 | Callum McLean (Independent) | John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP) | Donald Finlayson Crichton (Independent) |

## Election results
### 2022 election

Loch a Tuath – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | Independent | Donald F. Crichton (incumbent) | 41.1 | 461 | |
| | Independent | Calum MacLean (incumbent) | 22.2 | 249 | 330 |
| | SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 21.9 | 246 | 281 |
| | Independent | Catriona Murray | 11.2 | 126 | 168 |
| | Independent | Hazel G. Mansfield | 3.5 | 39 | 46 |
| Electorate: 2,216 Valid: 1,121 Spoilt: 27 Quota: 281 Turnout: 51.8% ||||||
Source:

### 2017 election

Loch a Tuath – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Independent | Donald Crichton (incumbent) | 46.0 | 590 | | | | |
| | Independent | Calum MacLean | 17.9 | 230 | 344 | | | |
| | SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 17.9 | 230 | 271 | 276 | 298 | 335 |
| | Independent | Iain MacIver | 6.1 | 78 | 115 | 119 | 137 | 170 |
| | Independent | Ruaraidh Ferguson | 6.2 | 80 | 110 | 113 | 132 | |
| | Independent | Allan MacLachlan | 5.8 | 74 | 98 | 104 | | |
| Electorate: 2,255 Valid: 1,282 Spoilt: 35 Quota: 321 Turnout: 58.4% |||||||||
Source:

### 2012 Election

2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
Loch a Tuath - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Independent | Donald Finlayson Crichton | 28.0% | 331 | | | |
| | SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 24.53% | 290 | 298.4 | | |
| | Independent | Catriona Stewart (incumbent) | 23.88% | 273 | 282.5 | 283.1 | 333.1 |
| | Independent | Kenneth MacIver (incumbent) | 14.47% | 171 | 177.9 | 178.5 | 201.8 |
| | Independent | Alasdair Nicholson | 9.9% | 117 | 122.1 | 122.7 | |
| Electorate: 2,166 Valid: 1,182 Spoilt: 17 Quota: 296 Turnout: 1,199 (54.57%) ||||||||

### 2007 Election

2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election, 2007: Loch a Tuath :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| Independent | Catriona Stewart | 486 | 36.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Independent | Kenneth MacIver | 249 | 18.4 | 2 | 3 |
| SNP | Iain Murdo MacDonald | 235 | 17.4 | | |
| Independent | John A. MacIver† | 233 | 17.3 | 3 | 5 |
| Independent | Alasdair Nicholson | 147 | 10.9 | | |