# 2017 East Ayrshire Council election

Elections to East Ayrshire Council took place on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
For the second consecutive election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party with 14 seats but remained shy of an overall majority. Labour lost further ground but were again returned as the second-largest party with nine seats. The Conservatives made several gains to return six councillors while The Rubbish Party – standing in their first election – won their first seat. Two independent candidates were also elected.
The SNP took over control of the council as a minority administration having previously run the council in coalition with the Conservatives following the previous election in 2012.

## Election result

2017 East Ayrshire local election result :
| Party | Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| | SNP | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 43.8 | 38.5 | 16,023 | 1.0 |
| | Labour | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 28.1 | 25.2 | 10,456 | 16.2 |
| | Conservative | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18.8 | 24.21 | 10,066 | 13.0 |
| | Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 9.0 | 3,347 | 1.3 |
| | Rubbish | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 784 | New |
| | Scottish Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 1.6 | 674 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 0.5 | 217 | New |
| Total | Total | 32 | | | | | | 41,567 | |
Source:
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

### Seats changing hands

| Seat | 2012 | 2012 | 2012 | 2017 | 2017 | 2017 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Party | Party | Member |
| Annick | | SNP | Eoghann MacColl | | SNP | Gordon Jenkins |
| Annick | | | Ward increased from 3 to 4 | | Conservative | John McFadzean |
| Kilmarnock North | | SNP | Elaine Cowan | | Conservative | Ian Grant |
| Kilmarnock East and Hurlford | | Labour | Gordon Cree | | Labour | Barry Douglas |
| Kilmarnock East and Hurlford | | Labour | Drew McIntyre | | Conservative | Jon Herd |
| Kilmarnock South | | SNP | Hugh Ross | | SNP | Claire Maitland |
| Irvine Valley | | Conservative | John McFadzean | | The Rubbish Party | Sally Cogley |
| Irvine Valley | | SNP | Bobby McDill | | | Ward decreased from 4 to 3 |
| Ballochmyle | | SNP | Stephanie Primrose | | SNP | Claire Leitch |
| Ballochmyle | | Labour | David Shaw | | Conservative | Alyson Simmons |
| Cumnock and New Cumnock | | Labour | William Menzies | | SNP | Jim McMahon |
| Cumnock and New Cumnock | | Labour | Eric Ross | | Conservative | Walter Young |
| Cumnock and New Cumnock | | SNP | Kathy Morrice | | SNP | Jacqui Todd |
| Doon Valley | | Labour | Moira Pirie | | Independent | Drew Filson |

## Ward summary

Results of the 2017 East Ayrshire Council election by ward :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | SNP | SNP | Labour | Labour | Conservative | Conservative | Rubbish | Rubbish | Green | Green | Libertarian | Libertarian | Independents | Independents | | Total Cllrs |
| Annick | 32.32 | 1 | 13.51 | 1 | 36.77 | 1 | | | 4.42 | 0 | 0.11 | 0 | 12.83 | 1 | 4 |
| Kilmarnock North | 49.79 | 1 | 23.13 | 1 | 25.96 | 1 | | | | | 1.09 | 0 | | | 3 |
| Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse | 40.59 | 2 | 23.49 | 1 | 31.27 | 1 | | | 3.84 | 0 | 1.09 | 0 | | | 4 |
| Kilmarnock East and Hurlford | 45.14 | 2 | 26.35 | 1 | 21.6 | 1 | | | | | 0.78 | 0 | 6.1 | 0 | 4 |
| Kilmarnock South | 54.65 | 2 | 32.89 | 1 | 11.71 | 0 | | | | | 0.73 | 0 | | | 3 |
| Irvine Valley | 36.29 | 1 | 16.75 | 1 | 19.88 | 0 | 16.94 | 1 | | | 0.3 | 0 | 9.8 | 0 | 3 |
| Ballochmyle | 30.96 | 2 | 28.87 | 1 | 20.1 | 1 | | | | | 0.32 | 0 | 13.22 | 0 | 4 |
| Cumnock and New Cumnock | 30.74 | 2 | 35.27 | 1 | 22.21 | 1 | | | 2.84 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 8.31 | 0 | 4 |
| Doon Valley | 25.16 | 1 | 34.06 | 1 | 18.33 | 0 | | | 1.39 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 20.92 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 38.54 | 14 | 25.15 | 9 | 18.75 | 6 | 1.88 | 1 | 1.62 | 0 | 0.52 | 0 | 8.95 | 2 | 32 |

## Ward results
### Annick

Following the Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements, Annick was increased from a three-member ward to a four-member ward. The SNP, Labour and independent candidate Ellen Freel retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Conservatives won the extra seat.
Annick - 4 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Conservative | John McFadzean | 36.8 | 2,277 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Gordon Jenkins | 17.4 | 1,076 | 1,097 | 1,098 | 1,098 | 1,161 | 1,993 |
| | SNP | Eòghann MacColl (incumbent) | 14.9 | 925 | 947 | 948 | 949 | 1,005 | |
| | Labour | John McGhee (incumbent) | 13.5 | 837 | 1,078 | 1,088 | 1,100 | 1,154 | 1,207 |
| | Independent | Ellen Freel (incumbent) | 12.5 | 775 | 1,013 | 1,021 | 1,056 | 1,162 | 1,224 |
| | Scottish Green | Jen Broadhurst | 4.4 | 274 | 326 | 328 | 334 | | |
| | Independent | Gordon Walker | 0.3 | 20 | 61 | 66 | | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Amrik Singh | 0.1 | 7 | 22 | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,761 Valid: 6,191 Spoilt: 63 Quota: 1,239 Turnout: 53.2% ||||||||||
Source:

### Kilmarnock North

Labour retained their only seat while the SNP retained one of their two seats and the Conservatives gained one seat from the SNP.
Kilmarnock North - 3 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | SNP | Helen Coffey (incumbent) | 36.9 | 1,381 | | | | |
| | Conservative | Ian Grant | 26.0 | 971 | | | | |
| | Labour | Maureen McKay (incumbent) | 23.1 | 865 | 885 | 900 | 924 | 1,300 |
| | SNP | Elaine Cowan (incumbent) | 12.9 | 481 | 884 | 886 | 893 | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Lisa Murray | 1.1 | 41 | 44 | 47 | | |
| Electorate: 9,109 Valid: 3,739 Spoilt: 40 Quota: 935 Turnout: 41.5% |||||||||
Source:

### Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse

The SNP (2), Labour and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.
Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse - 4 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | Conservative | Tom Cook (incumbent) | 31.3 | 1,789 |
| | Labour | Lillian Jones (incumbent) | 23.5 | 1,344 |
| | SNP | Iain Linton (incumbent) | 20.5 | 1,171 |
| | SNP | Douglas Reid (incumbent) | 20.1 | 1,152 |
| | Scottish Green | Elizabeth Brown | 3.8 | 220 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Stef Johnstone | 0.8 | 45 |
| Electorate: 12,631 Valid: 5,721 Spoilt: 88 Quota: 1,145 Turnout: 46% |||||
Source:

### Kilmarnock East and Hurlford

The SNP retained both the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained one of their two seats and the Conservatives gained one seat from Labour.
Kilmarnock East and Hurlford - 4 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | Fiona Campbell (incumbent) | 28.8 | 1,459 | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Jon Herd | 21.6 | 1,094 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Barry Douglas | 16.9 | 856 | 867 | 906 | 923 | 933 | 1,007 | 1,513 |
| | SNP | John Campbell (incumbent) | 16.3 | 827 | 1,232 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Dave Meechan | 9.5 | 479 | 485 | 500 | 510 | 517 | 609 | |
| | Independent | Raymond Pattison | 6.1 | 309 | 313 | 347 | 363 | 383 | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Stephen McNamara | 0.8 | 40 | 41 | 54 | 60 | | | |
| Electorate: 12,244 Valid: 5,064 Spoilt: 129 Quota: 1,013 Turnout: 42.4% |||||||||||
Source:

### Kilmarnock South

The SNP (2) and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election.
Kilmarnock South - 3 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | SNP | Jim Todd (incumbent) | 36.5 | 1,190 | |
| | Labour | John Knapp (incumbent) | 32.9 | 1,073 | |
| | SNP | Clare Maitland | 18.2 | 593 | 914 |
| | Conservative | Billy McClure | 11.7 | 382 | 387 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Caitlin O'Brien | 0.7 | 24 | 29 |
| Electorate: 8,028 Valid: 3,262 Spoilt: 62 Quota: 816 Turnout: 41.4% ||||||
Source:

### Irvine Valley

Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, Irvine Valley was reduced in size from a four-member ward to a three-member ward. The SNP retained one of the two seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained their only seat. The Conservatives lost their only seat and the Rubbish Party won a council seat for the first time.
Irvine Valley - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | Elena Whitham (incumbent) | 24.4 | 1,128 | 1,131 | 1,132 | 1,179 | | | |
| | Conservative | Susan McFadzean | 19.9 | 920 | 921 | 922 | 964 | 964 | 989 | |
| | Rubbish | Sally Cogley | 16.9 | 784 | 788 | 792 | 888 | 889 | 1,036 | 1,403 |
| | Labour | George Mair (incumbent) | 16.8 | 775 | 778 | 780 | 879 | 880 | 991 | 1,233 |
| | SNP | Margaret Young | 11.9 | 551 | 551 | 551 | 587 | 605 | | |
| | Independent | Ian King | 9.5 | 438 | 438 | 444 | | | | |
| | Independent | David Gartland | 0.3 | 16 | 16 | | | | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Stevie Brannagan | 0.3 | 14 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,677 Valid: 4,626 Spoilt: 71 Quota: 1,157 Turnout: 48.5% |||||||||||
Source:

### Ballochmyle

The SNP retained both the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained one of their two seats and the Conservatives gained one seat from Labour.
Ballochmyle - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | Claire Leitch | 20.7 | 971 | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Alyson Simmons | 20.1 | 944 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Neil McGhee (incumbent) | 18.6 | 873 | 875 | 875 | 880 | 1,233 | | |
| | SNP | Jim Roberts (incumbent) | 16.8 | 788 | 813 | 813 | 816 | 854 | 895 | 1,107 |
| | Independent | David Shaw (incumbent) | 13.2 | 621 | 621 | 622 | 627 | 671 | 734 | |
| | Labour | Neil Murray | 10.3 | 483 | 483 | 484 | 485 | | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Sheraz Shafiq | 0.3 | 15 | 15 | 15 | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,270 Valid: 4,695 Spoilt: 138 Quota: 940 Turnout: 42.9% |||||||||||
Source:

### Cumnock and New Cumnock

Labour retained one of the three seats they won at the previous election while the SNP retained their only seat and both the SNP and the Conservatives gained one seat from Labour.
Cumnock and New Cumnock - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | Billy Crawford (incumbent) | 28.7 | 1,279 | | | | | | |
| | Conservative | Walter Young | 22.2 | 991 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jacqui Todd | 16.4 | 731 | 740 | 743 | 745 | 773 | 831 | 898 |
| | SNP | Jim McMahon | 14.4 | 641 | 656 | 659 | 660 | 684 | 743 | 812 |
| | Independent | Jessie Owens | 8.3 | 371 | 390 | 411 | 418 | 461 | | |
| | Labour | Carol Ann Mochan | 6.6 | 295 | 577 | 599 | 605 | 626 | 736 | |
| | Scottish Green | Peter Black | 2.8 | 127 | 136 | 143 | 149 | | | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Gordon Bircham | 0.6 | 27 | 28 | 32 | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,735 Valid: 4,462 Spoilt: 137 Quota: 893 Turnout: 42.8% |||||||||||
Source:

### Doon Valley

The SNP retained their only seat while Labour retained one of their two seats and independent candidate Drew Filson gained a seat from Labour.
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: