# Kilmarnock East and Hurlford (ward)

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford is one of the nine wards used to elect members of the East Ayrshire Council. It elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 15,570 people.
The area has produced strong results for both Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP) with the former holding two seats between 2007 and 2017 and the latter taking half the seats at every election.

## 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 Kilmarnock East and Hurlford was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards.
It contained all of the former South New Farm Loch ward as well as parts of the former North New Farm Loch and Dean, Kilmarnock Central East, Kilmarnock Central South, Crookedholm, Moscow, Galston West and Hurlford North and Hurlford wards. Initially, Kilmarnock East and Hurlford included the easternmost part of Kilmarnock including the neighbourhoods of New Farm Loch, Beansburn and Townholm as well as the towns of Hurlford and Crookedholm. Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's western boundary was moved east to run along the B7038 instead of the Kilmarnock Water and Craufurdland Water to take in Dean Castle Country Park.

## Councillors

| Election | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors | Councillors |
| 2007 | | John Campbell (SNP) | | Jim Buchannan (SNP) | | Drew McIntyre (Labour) | Gordon Cree (Labour) |
| 2012 | | John Campbell (SNP) | | Jim Buchannan (SNP) | | Drew McIntyre (Labour) | Gordon Cree (Labour) |
| 2017 by-election | Fiona Campbell (SNP) | John Campbell (SNP) | | | | Drew McIntyre (Labour) | Gordon Cree (Labour) |
| 2017 | Fiona Campbell (SNP) | John Campbell (SNP) | Barry Douglas (Labour) | | Jon Herd (Conservative) |
| 2022 | Graham Barton (SNP) | Neal Ingram (SNP) | Barry Douglas (Labour) | | Graham Boyd (Ind.) |

## Election results
### 2022 election

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Labour | Barry Douglas (incumbent) | 38.5 | 2,053 | | | | |
| | SNP | Graham Barton | 28.2 | 1,501 | | | | |
| | Conservative | Jon Herd (incumbent) | 12.1 | 645 | 796 | 798 | 854 | |
| | Independent | Graham Boyd | 10.8 | 574 | 776 | 799 | 879 | 1,288 |
| | SNP | Neal Ingram | 9.0 | 481 | 616 | 983 | 1,000 | 1,030 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Trevor Grant | 1.4 | 74 | 209 | 218 | | |
| Electorate: 12,370 Valid: 5,328 Spoilt: 69 Quota: 1,066 Turnout: 43.6% |||||||||
Source:

### 2017 election

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:

### 2017 by-election

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford by-election (26 January 2017) – 1 seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | SNP | Fiona Campbell | 48.7 | 1,461 | 1,471 | 1,531 |
| | Labour | Dave Meechem | 29.4 | 881 | 893 | 1,122 |
| | Conservative | Jon Herd | 20.1 | 602 | 608 | |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Stephen McNamara | 1.8 | 53 | | |
| Electorate: 11,266 Valid: 2,997 Spoilt: 33 Quota: 1,449 Turnout: 26.6% |||||||
Source:

### 2012 election

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford – 4 members :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | SNP | John Campbell (incumbent) | 25.4 | 1,126 |
| | Labour | Gordon Cree (incumbent) | 23.8 | 1,054 |
| | Labour | Drew McIntyre (incumbent) | 22.2 | 984 |
| | SNP | James Buchanan (incumbent) | 21.3 | 944 |
| | Conservative | Rob Murray | 7.4 | 326 |
| Electorate: 11,311 Valid: 4,434 Spoilt: 142 Quota: 887 Turnout: 39.2% |||||
Source:

### 2007 election

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SNP | John Campbell | 20.0 | 1,300 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jim Buchanan | 19.5 | 1,269 | 1,313 | | | | |
| | Labour | Drew McIntyre | 15.9 | 1,031 | 1,039 | 1,039 | 1,077 | 1,141 | 1,555 |
| | Labour | Gordon Cree | 14.9 | 970 | 977 | 978 | 1,031 | 1,110 | 1,373 |
| | Labour | Jim Raymond | 14.2 | 924 | 947 | 947 | 974 | 1,014 | |
| | Conservative | Ian Grant | 7.7 | 502 | 505 | 506 | 574 | | |
| | Independent | John Weir | 5.4 | 350 | 378 | 380 | | | |
| | Solidarity | Gordon Walker | 2.3 | 151 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,568 Valid: 6,497 Spoilt: 148 Quota: 1,300 Turnout: 56.1% ||||||||||
Source: