Constituencies, Elections and Politics in Muirkirk

Scottish Parliament Constituency Boundary Review 2008

There is a proposal to change the constituency boundaries which affect the village of Muirkirk as far as electing our local Member of the Scottish Parliament is concerned.

Information giving the background to the reasoning behind the proposed changed is replicated below - the full text of the relevant document can be found here

The effect of the proposals would be to move Muirkirk away from it's historical links with Ayr and Kilmarnock and, along with Auchinleck, Catrine, Cumnock, Darvel, Newmilns and parts of South Lanarkshire, to form a Cumnock and Clydesdale constituency.

These proposals will not affect either existing local government arrangements or Westminster constituency boudnaries - they only relate to representation in the Scottish Parliament.

The Boundary Commission claim that the communities of the eastern part of East Ayrshire Council area and the southern extent of South Lanarkshire were of a similar rural nature and will therefore produce an acceptable constituency. However, it is many decades since the last train departed Muirkirk for Lanark and many years since bus communication between Muirkirk and Lanarkshire destinations ceased. The reality of Muirkirk's relationships in modern times have been with Cumnock, Ayr and Kilmarnock.

The Boundary Commission is based in Edinburgh and anyone wishing to object to these proposals can telephone 0131 538 7510. Their website can be found at www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk

Extract from Proposal Document

14. Having considered the overall pattern of proposed constituencies under both options,
the Commission, on balance, preferred the option of crossing the Clyde. The proposed
constituencies could then be grouped into 2 blocks of Council areas. Block 1 of these
constituencies brought together Argyll and Bute, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde,
Renfrewshire, and East Renfrewshire, providing for 7 constituencies. This was further
developed to become the Commission's provisional proposals for West Scotland. Block 2
brought together East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire,
South Lanarkshire, and West Lothian Council areas whose theoretical entitlements to seats
are 1.69, 1.47, 4.57, 1.63, 4.46 and 2.25 respectively, providing for 16 constituencies. This
was further developed to become the Commission's provisional proposals for South West
and Central Scotland. The 6 Council areas have a combined electorate of 879,450 giving a
theoretical entitlement of 16.07 seats and therefore justifying a configuration of 16
constituencies covering the whole area.

15. In determining the detail for revised constituencies, the Commission recognised that it
was not possible to create constituencies that were all within single local authority areas as
such an approach would give rise to significant divergence from electoral parity. It was
noted that the geography of the combined 6 Council areas would significantly influence the
configuration of constituencies, especially at the extremities, where in many instances the
possibilities for forming constituencies were limited. The Commission also recognised that
there would be no added benefit from combining these 6 Council areas with any of the
adjacent Council areas of City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, Glasgow and
North Ayrshire in order to configure revised arrangements for constituencies at the Scottish
Parliament. Added to this was the geography at the interface between West Lothian and
Midlothian Council areas and the distribution of electorates in both areas which prevented
combining these two Council areas.

16. Taking the above circumstances into account and noting that East and South Ayrshire
Council areas had a combined theoretical entitlement of 3.32 seats under the electoral quota
(1.69 and 1.63 respectively), it was evident to the Commission that it would be necessary to
divide these two Council areas among four constituencies in order to comply with the
statutory rules, and that it also would be necessary to have a cross-council constituency
which included parts of South Lanarkshire Council.

17. The imbalances of electorate that had occurred in the existing Carrick, Cumnock and
Doon Valley; Ayr; and Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituencies, and the geographical
position of these constituencies, necessitated significant change to the current
arrangements. This led the Commission to conclude that the northern boundary of the
existing Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency required amendment and
movement southward in order to produce a revised constituency that complied with the
statutory rules. In considering the configuration of the proposed revised constituency, the
Commission noted that under existing arrangements Ayr was already divided between two
constituencies and that East Ayrshire Council wards 7-9 were located within the existing
cross-council constituency of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley. The Commission
concluded that the division of Ayr should remain and that the town could be divided along
the northern boundaries of the current South Ayrshire Council wards 4 (Ayr East) and 5 (Ayr
West) thereby, for the most part, using the well-defined feature of the River Ayr as a natural
division within the town. This coupled with the use of the eastern boundary of the current
East Ayrshire Council ward 9 (Doon Valley) produced an acceptable constituency (South Ayr,
Carrick and Doon Valley) which was broadly based on the existing constituency.
Furthermore, the proposal fully respected local government ward boundaries.

18. The Commission also concluded that a further acceptable constituency (North Ayr and
Troon) could be configured by combining South Ayrshire Council wards 1-3 and 6 and
including the East Ayrshire communities of Galston and Mauchline. Both are Ayrshire
communities and Mauchline is currently included in a cross-council constituency with South
Ayrshire. The Commission noted that the distribution and density of electorate within the
area precluded full alignment with local government ward boundaries and that the disparate
communities of the proposed constituency were linked through the major roads of the A719
and A76. This constituency was again broadly based on the existing constituency.

19. The Commission agreed that the existing Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency had
too large an electorate to remain unchanged. It was also recognised that the prevailing
geographical circumstances indicated that, to develop a revised constituency compliant with
the statutory rules without dividing Kilmarnock would require the creation of a constituency
that included Kilmarnock and the communities along, and to the north of, the M77. The
Commission agreed upon a proposed constituency along these lines and named it
Kilmarnock.

20. It followed that, having determined the need for a cross-council constituency involving
an area of South Lanarkshire, the communities of Newmilns, Darvel, Catrine, Auchinleck,
Cumnock and Muirkirk would need to be included in such a cross-council constituency. In
developing the proposed Cumnock and Clydesdale constituency the Commission considered
that the communities of the eastern part of East Ayrshire Council area and the southern
extent of South Lanarkshire were of a similar rural nature and would therefore produce an
acceptable constituency under the prevailing circumstances.

 

Election 2007
Thursday 3rd May 2007

Scottish Parliamentary general elections and
elections to Scotland's 32 local councils
will take place on Thursday 3rd May 2007
Polling booths will be open from 7am to 10pm

For information about the voting system to be used in these elections visit www.votescotland.com. This election there will be elements of proportional representation in both the Scottish Parliament and, for the first time, local council elections.

For information on how to vote and about elections in your area, visit www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

Regional List "First Vote" Candidates (brown area of your voting form)
	Party	Candidates
	Scottish Christian Party	William Thompson (1), John Healy (2), Mark Smith (3), Robin Mawhinney (4), Jim Faulds (5), Coral Thompson (6), Owen Fielding (7), Peter Smith (8), Stanley Hay
	Scottish National Party	Christine Grahame (1), Mike Russell (2), Adam Ingram (3), Alasdair Morgan (4), Aileen Campbell (5), Aileen Orr (6), Andrew Sharp (7), Duncan Ross (8), Iain White (9), Andrew Wood
	Conservative Party	John Scott (1), Derek Brownlee (2), John Lamont (3), Murray Tosh (4), Colin McGavigan (5), Bill Stevenson (6), Tony Lewis (7)
	Labour Party	Claudia Beamish (1), Jalal Chaudry (2), Margaret McDougall (3), Frank McGowen (4), Kirsty Welch (5), Ali Syed (6), Kirsty Connell (7
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Hume (1), Patsy Kenton (2), Joe Rosiejack (3), Paul McGreal (4), Iain Dale (5), Catriona Bhatia (6), Marianne Andrews (7), Ruby Kirkwood (8)
	Greens	Chris Ballance (1), Abbie Marland (2), Donald McKinney (3), Linda Hendry (4), John Blair-Fish (5), Mandy Meikle (6), Michael Scott
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Don Sharp (1), Isabell Hutchon (2), Alex Park (3), Tom Mulholland (4), John Higgins (5), Alan Eeles (6), David Mathieson (7), Lou Howson (8
	Solidarity	Rosemary Byrne (1), Graeme McIver (2), Jim Monaghan (3), Sarah McTavish (4), Lesley McIver (5), John Dennis (6), Danny McGregor (7)
	Scottish Socialist Party	Colin Turbett (1), Charlotte Cameron (2), Denise Morton (3), Norman Lockhart (4), Jamie Hindhaugh (5), Liz Swan (6), Joy McLelland (7)
	Christian Peoples Alliance	Stephen Cotter (1)
	Scottish Voice
	UK Independance	Peter Nielson (1), Tony Lee (2), Douglas Watters (3), Margaret Hay (4), John Curtis (5), Thomas Findlay
	Scottish Unionist
	Independent	Paddy Hogg
	British National Party	Thomas Sweeten (1), Martin Clark (2), Jennie Noble (3), Michael Bell

East Ayrshire Council Elections