# Doon Valley (ward)

Doon Valley is one of the nine electoral wards of East Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 11,592 people.
The area was previously a Labour stronghold with the party holding two of the three seats between 2009 and 2017. However, the ward has since been split between Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP).

## 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 Doon Valley was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Patna and Dalrymple ward as well as part of the former Drongan, Stair and Rankinston, Dalmellington and Ochiltree, Skares, Netherthird and Craigens wards. Doon Valley includes the southernmost part of the council area between its borders with South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway and takes in the towns of Dalmellington, Patna and Drongan. The River Doon runs north-south through the ward and into Loch Doon which lies in the south of the ward. Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's boundaries were not changed.

## Councillors

| Election | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors |
| 2007 | | Elaine Dinwoodie (Labour) | | Drew Filson (SNP) | Jim Sutherland (Ind.) |
| 2009 | | Elaine Dinwoodie (Labour) | Moira Pirie (Labour) | Drew Filson (SNP) |
| 2012 | John Bell (SNP) | Elaine Dinwoodie (Labour) | Moira Pirie (Labour) |
| 2017 | John Bell (SNP) | Elaine Dinwoodie (Labour) | | Drew Filson (Ind.) |
| 2022 | Elaine Stewart (Labour) | Jennifer Hogg (SNP) | | Drew Filson (Ind.) |
| 2024 | Jim Kyle (Labour) | Jennifer Hogg (SNP) | | Drew Filson (Ind.) |

## Election results
### 2024 by-election

Doon Valley by-election (14 November 2024) – 1 seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | Jim Kyle | 32.2 | 516 | 516 | 523 | 537 | 569 | 699 | 826 |
| | Conservative | Tracey Clark | 25.5 | 410 | 411 | 412 | 423 | 475 | 506 | |
| | SNP | Lorraine Pollock | 23.7 | 379 | 379 | 391 | 400 | 432 | | |
| | Independent | Jim Ireland | 10.7 | 172 | 175 | 179 | 195 | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Trevor Grant | 4.2 | 68 | 68 | 77 | | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Korin Matthew Vallance | 3.0 | 48 | 49 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Stef McNamara | 0.5 | 9 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,763 Valid: 1,602 Spoilt: 27 Quota: 802 Turnout: 18.6% |||||||||||
Source:

### 2022 election

Doon Valley – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Independent | Drew Filson (incumbent) | 27.9 | 1,077 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Elaine Stewart | 23.1 | 894 | 929 | 974 | | | |
| | SNP | Jennifer Hogg | 20.8 | 803 | 817 | 826 | 827 | 927 | 1,074 |
| | Conservative | Samantha Hainey | 16.7 | 644 | 651 | 681 | 682 | 780 | |
| | Independent | John Bell (incumbent) | 8.0 | 311 | 333 | 373 | 375 | | |
| | Independent | Murray Hendrie | 3.5 | 137 | 146 | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,932 Valid: 3,866 Spoilt: 59 Quota: 967 Turnout: 43.9% ||||||||||
Source:

### 2017 election

Doon Valley - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Labour | Elaine Dinwoodie (incumbent) | 21.0 | 801 | 801 | 807 | 828 | 848 | 1,182 | | | |
| | Conservative | Alison Harper | 18.3 | 698 | 699 | 701 | 718 | 721 | 737 | 756 | 757 | |
| | Independent | Drew Filson | 15.5 | 590 | 590 | 596 | 685 | 693 | 777 | 838 | 844 | 1,066 |
| | SNP | John Bell (incumbent) | 15.3 | 583 | 583 | 592 | 602 | 935 | 950 | 972 | | |
| | Labour | Elaine Stewart | 13.0 | 496 | 496 | 502 | 522 | 526 | | | | |
| | SNP | Anne Fairlie | 9.9 | 375 | 375 | 390 | 399 | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Young | 5.4 | 207 | 208 | 213 | | | | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Craig Murray | 1.4 | 53 | 54 | | | | | | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Mark Mitchell | 0.1 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,920 Valid: 3,807 Spoilt: 76 Quota: 952 Turnout: 43.5% |||||||||||||
Source:

### 2012 election

Doon Valley – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Labour | Elaine Dinwoodie (incumbent) | 33.1 | 1,171 | | | | | |
| | SNP | John Bell | 22.3 | 790 | 812 | 832 | 950 | | |
| | Independent | Ian Borthwick | 13.8 | 488 | 501 | 540 | 680 | 708 | |
| | Independent | Drew Filson (incumbent) | 12.1 | 427 | 465 | 491 | | | |
| | Labour | Moira Pirie (incumbent) | 11.9 | 421 | 590 | 613 | 719 | 734 | 984 |
| | Conservative | Irene Grant | 5.0 | 178 | 181 | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,855 Valid: 3,475 Spoilt: 61 Quota: 869 Turnout: 39.2% ||||||||||
Source:

### 2009 by-election

Doon Valley by-election, 1 October 2009 – 1 seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Labour | Moira Pirrie | 50.54 | 1,221 |
| | SNP | John Bell | 36.88 | 891 |
| | Conservative | Nicholas Martin | 7.28 | 176 |
| | Independent | Yvonne Hamilton | 3.48 | 84 |
| | Independent | Robert Shennan | 1.82 | 44 |
| Electorate: 9,144 Valid: 2,416 Spoilt: 33 Quota: 1,209 Turnout: 26.8% |||||
Source:

### 2007 election

Doon Valley - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | SNP | Drew Filson | 26.0 | 1,221 | | | | |
| | Labour | Elaine Stewart | 17.4 | 814 | 819 | 838 | 1,022 | |
| | Independent | Jim Sutherland | 16.6 | 779 | 790 | 915 | 1,036 | 1,089 |
| | Labour | Elaine Dinwoodie | 16.5 | 776 | 780 | 826 | 1,097 | 1,802 |
| | Labour | Tommy Farrell | 15.1 | 709 | 712 | 734 | | |
| | Conservative | Margaret Sword | 8.4 | 392 | 396 | | | |
| Electorate: 8,976 Valid: 4,691 Spoilt: 96 Quota: 1,173 Turnout: 52.2% |||||||||
Source: