| Cunninghame North Scottish Parliament county constituency |
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| Cunninghame North shown within the West of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland |
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| Created: | 1999 |
| MSP: | Kenneth Gibson |
| Party: | SNP |
| Council area: | North Ayrshire |
Cunninghame North is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the West of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the West of Scotland region are Dumbarton, Clydebank and Milngavie, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley North, Paisley South, Strathkelvin and Bearsden and West Renfrewshire.
The region covers the West Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, most of the Renfrewshire council area, most of the East Dunbartonshire council area, part of the Argyll and Bute council area and part of the North Ayrshire council area.
Constituency boundaries
The Cunninghame North constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was abolished in favour of new constituencies.[1]
Council area
The Holyrood constituency covers a north-western portion of the North Ayrshire council area, and includes the Isle of Arran. The rest of the North Ayrshire area is covered by the Cunninghame South constituency, which is within the South of Scotland electoral region.
Members of the Scottish Parliament
Kenneth Gibson of the Scottish National Party presently holds this seat. With the SNP gaining a majority of just 48 in 2007, this is currently the most marginal seat at Holyrood.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Allan Wilson | Labour | |
| 2003 | |||
| 2007 | Kenneth Gibson | Scottish National Party | |
Election results
| Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Cunninghame North | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| SNP | Kenneth Gibson | 9,295 | 30.7 | +3.6 | |
| Labour | Allan Wilson | 9,247 | 30.6 | -8.3 | |
| Conservative | Philip Lardner | 5,466 | 18.1 | -1.3 | |
| Independent | Campbell Martin | 4,423 | 14.6 | +14.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Lewis Hutton | 1,810 | 6.0 | -2.1 | |
| Majority | 48 | 0.2 | -11.63 | ||
| Turnout | 30,241 | 54.1 | +2.34 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | 6.0 | |||
| Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Cunninghame North | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Allan Wilson | 11,142 | 38.92 | -3.99 | |
| SNP | Campbell Martin | 7,755 | 27.09 | -1.49 | |
| Conservative | Peter Ramsay | 5,542 | 19.36 | -0.49 | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Boyd | 2,333 | 8.15 | -0.51 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Sean Scott | 1,859 | 6.49 | +6.49 | |
| Majority | 3,387 | 11.83 | -2.50 | ||
| Turnout | 28,631 | 51.76 | -8.20 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Cunninghame North | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Allan Wilson | 14,369 | 42.90 | N/A | |
| SNP | Kay Ullrich | 9,573 | 28.58 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Mike Johnston | 6,649 | 19.85 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Calum Irving | 2,900 | 8.66 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,796 | 14.32 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Controversy
The high number of rejected votes was particularly significant in Cunninghame North where the majority (48) was far smaller than the number of rejected papers (over 1,000). Additionally, ballot papers carried by boat from the Isle of Arran were damp when they arrived raising suggestions they may not have been transported securely. There were also questions about a discrepancy in the number of ballot papers that left Arran and the number that arrived at the count, though the returning officer later announced that a manual recount found no discrepancy.[2] Allan Wilson, the former member for Cunninghame North was said to be discussing with his solicitor a potential legal challenge to the Cunninghame North result[3] but no election petition was lodged.[4]
Notes and references
- ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland
- ^ "Blow to SNP coalition hopes as Lib Dems spurn independence deal". The Guardian. 7 May 2007. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/scotland/story/0,,2074046,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ "Holyrood vote may face challenges". BBC. 6 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6629093.stm. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ No Labour challenge over election BBC Online, 25 May 2007
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