# South Ayrshire Council

South Ayrshire Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Shiorrachd Àir a Deas) is the local authority for South Ayrshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It was created in 1996, and now comprises eight wards, each with three of four directly elected councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional representation. The council is based at County Buildings in Ayr.

## Overview

The council has been under no overall control since 2003, in which time various coalitions and minority administrations have operated. Since the last election in 2022, the council has been led by a Conservative minority administration which took office with support from two independent councillors and abstentions from Labour. The next election is due in 2027.
The council's civic head takes the title of provost. This is a largely ceremonial role, chairing council meetings and acting as the area's first citizen. Although an elected councillor, the provost is expected to be politically impartial. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council.

## Political control

The first election to South Ayrshire Council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:
| Party in control | Party in control | Years |
| | Labour | 1996–2003 |
| | No overall control | 2003– |

### Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Ian Welsh | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | 6 May 1999 |
| John Baillie | Labour | 20 May 1999 | Jun 2000 |
| Andy Hill | Labour | 22 Jun 2000 | Nov 2005 |
| Gibson MacDonald | Conservative | 15 Dec 2005 | May 2007 |
| Hugh Hunter | Conservative | 2007 | Jan 2010 |
| Bill McIntosh | Conservative | 3 Feb 2010 | May 2017 |
| Douglas Campbell | SNP | 18 May 2017 | Jun 2020 |
| Peter Henderson | SNP | 25 Jun 2020 | May 2022 |
| Martin Dowey | Conservative | 19 May 2022 | |

### Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Conservative | 10 |
| | Independent | 7 |
| | Labour | 5 |
| | SNP | 5 |
| | Alba | 1 |
| Total | Total | 28 |
The next election is due in 2027.

## Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:
| Year | Seats | Conservative | SNP | Labour | Independent / Other | Notes |
| 1995 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 0 | Labour majority |
| 1999 | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 0 | New ward boundaries. Labour majority |
| 2003 | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 30 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 1 | New ward boundaries. |
| 2012 | 30 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 28 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | New ward boundaries. |
| 2022 | 28 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 4 | |

## Premises

The council is based at County Buildings on Wellington Square in Ayr, which had been built in 1931 as the headquarters for the old Ayrshire County Council, being an extension to the older Sheriff Court built in 1818. When South Ayrshire Council was created in 1996 it inherited the former Kyle and Carrick District Council's offices at Burns House on Burns Statue Square in Ayr as well as County Buildings, the latter having been used between 1975 and 1996 as an area office for Strathclyde Regional Council. In 2019 the council consolidated its offices into County Buildings. Burns House was subsequently demolished in 2021, creating a new open space, landscaped with funding from the Scottish Government.

## Wards

Since 2017 the area has been divided into eight wards, all electing either three or four councillors:
| Ward Number | Ward Name | Seats |
| 1 | Troon | 4 |
| 2 | Prestwick | 4 |
| 3 | Ayr North | 4 |
| 4 | Ayr East | 3 |
| 5 | Ayr West | 4 |
| 6 | Kyle | 3 |
| 7 | Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton | 3 |
| 8 | Girvan and South Carrick | 3 |