2012 North Ayrshire Council election explained

Election Name:2012 North Ayrshire Council election
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2007 North Ayrshire Council election
Previous Year:2007
Next Election:2017 North Ayrshire Council election
Next Year:2017
Seats For Election:All 30 seats to North Ayrshire Council
Majority Seats:16
Image1: SNP
Leader1:William Gibson
Party1:Scottish National Party
Leaders Seat1:Saltcoats and Stevenston
Seats Before1:8
Seats1:12
Seat Change1: 4
Popular Vote1:14,623
Percentage1:35.6%
Swing1: 6.1
Leader2:David O'Neill
Party2:Scottish Labour Party
Leaders Seat2:Irvine West
Seats Before2:12
Seats2:11
Seat Change2: 1
Popular Vote2:12,906
Percentage2:31.4%
Swing2: 1.0
Image3: Ind
Leader3:Jean Highgate
Party3:Independent (politician)
Leaders Seat3:Kilbirnie and Beith
Seats Before3:6
Seats3:6
Seat Change3: 1
Popular Vote3:7,808
Percentage3:19.0%
Swing3: 2.1
Council Leader
Before Election:David O'Neill
(Labour)
Before Party:No overall control
Posttitle:Council Leader after election
After Election:William Gibson
(SNP)
After Party:No overall control

The 2012 North Ayrshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of North Ayrshire Council. The election used the eight wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 30 Councillors being elected.

The election saw the Scottish National Party make further advances by gaining four seats to become the largest party on the Council while also increasing their vote share significantly. Labour lost one seat to become the second-largest party on the Council. Independents gained a seat to have a total of six members. The Conservatives lost two-thirds of their former seats, while the Liberal Democrats were wiped out, losing both their seats.

Following the election, the SNP formed a minority administration on the Council. This replaced the previous Labour minority administration which existed from 2007 to 2012. This was also the first time Labour had not been part of the administration on the council for over 30 years.

Election result

Source: [1]

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 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Irvine West

Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Irvine East

Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Kilwinning

Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Robert Steel gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Saltcoats and Stevenston

Labour (2), the SNP (1) and independent councillor Ronnie McNicol retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Ardrossan and Arran

The SNP, Labour and independent councillor John Hunter retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from former independent councillor Margie Currie.

Dalry and West Kilbride

Independent councillor Elizabeth McLardy retained the seat she had won at the previous election while the SNP and independent councillor Robert Barr each gained a seat from Labour and the Conservatives. In 2007, Cllr Barr had been elected as a Conservative candidate but later left the party.

Kilbirnie and Beith

The SNP, Labour and independent councillor Jean Highgate retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

North Coast and Cumbraes

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

By-elections

2014 North Coast and Cumbraes by-election

2016 Irvine West by-election

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Local Elections Archive Project - 2017 - North Ayrshire . Andrew . Teale . 18 January 2024.