Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election
1980 Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election |
All 16 seats to Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council
9 seats needed for a majority |
|---|
| Registered | 61,563 |
|---|
| Turnout | 48.6% |
|---|
| |
Council Leader before election
Conservative
| Council Leader after election
Labour
| |
Elections to Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council were held on 1 May 1980, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the third election to the district council following the local government reforms in the 1970s.
The election was the last to use the original 16 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.[1] Following the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1981, several wards were changed or abolished and the number of wards was increased.[2]
Labour gained overall control of the district council after winning 11 of the 16 seats as the party increased their vote share by nearly 20% and took more than half of the popular vote. The previous election in 1977 had resulted in no overall control after Labour and the Conservatives were tied with seven seats each. The Conservatives were the second-largest party after they retained five of their seven seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP), who had won two seats in 1977, lost both of their seats.
Background
Supported by the two SNP councillors, the Conservatives had run Kilmarnock and Loudon as a minority since the previous election in 1977[3] while, at Westminster, the party had taken over from Labour following the 1979 general election.
Ahead of the 1980 election, the Conservatives campaigned to continue on with their "winning team". Their manifesto was entitled "Passport to Prosperity" and highlighted their support for the Right to Buy policy, a pledge to build new swimming baths and their support for small businesses at the newly established industrial estate in Bonnyton.[3]
Labour's campaign focused on the Thatcher government at Westminster which was unpopular in Scotland with their election literature headed "Tory Rule Not OK". They pledged to modernise the council's housing stock, provide leisure facilities for the whole family and introduce a more creative job opportunity scheme in response to raising unemployment.[3]
The SNP campaigned on a perceived "criminal" wasting of money within local government claiming that while rents and rates had increased dramatically since the local government reforms in 1974, ratepayers were instead funding "pleasure trips" for councillors in relation to town twinning.[4]
Results
1980 Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election result | Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| | Labour | 11 | 4 | 0 |  4 | 68.8 | 56.5 | 16,882 | 19.9 |
| | Conservative | 5 | 0 | 2 |  2 | 31.2 | 25.6 | 7,639 | 6.6 |
| | SNP | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 4,797 | 9.7 |
| | Liberal | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0.0 | 1.9 | 559 | 0.5 |
| Total | 16 | | | | | | 29,877 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward results
Ward 1
Ward 1 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Houston Sim | 1,238 | 50.4 | 14.5 |
| | SNP | Robert Brown | 1,207 | 49.2 | 3.9 |
| Majority | 31 | 1.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | 2,445 | 52.8 | 1.7 |
| Registered electors | 4,654 | | |
| | Labour gain from SNP | Swing | 5.3 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 2
Ward 2 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Robert Creighton | 1,226 | 70.4 | 9.7 |
| | SNP | Patricia Gibson | 284 | 16.3 | New |
| | Liberal | Peter Kerr | 226 | 13.0 | 26.3 |
| Majority | 942 | 54.1 | 32.7 |
| Turnout | 1,736 | 47.5 | 4.8 |
| Registered electors | 3,662 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 18.0 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 3
Ward 3 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John Hunter | 1,166 | 79.3 | 34.4 |
| | Conservative | Elizabeth Walker | 303 | 20.6 | 0.2 |
| Majority | 863 | 58.7 | 48.1 |
| Turnout | 1,469 | 38.1 | 10.7 |
| Registered electors | 3,858 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 34.3 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 4
Source:[5][6]
Ward 5
Ward 5 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McCrae | 1,372 | 71.0 | 18.9 |
| | SNP | Charles Calman | 556 | 28.8 | 19.1 |
| Majority | 816 | 42.2 | 38.0 |
| Turnout | 1,928 | 48.9 | 2.7 |
| Registered electors | 3,950 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 19.0 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 6
Source:[5][6]
Ward 7
Source:[5][6]
Ward 8
Source:[5][6]
Ward 9
Ward 9 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Maisie Garven | 1,449 | 78.4 | 36.7 |
| | SNP | Gordon Gibson | 393 | 21.3 | 19.7 |
| Majority | 1,056 | 57.1 | 56.4 |
| Turnout | 1,842 | 44.0 | 6.8 |
| Registered electors | 4,207 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 28.2 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 10
Ward 10 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Thomas Ferguson | 1,274 | 59.7 | 20.3 |
| | SNP | Leslie Flannigan | 854 | 40.0 | 3.8 |
| Majority | 420 | 19.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | 2,128 | 47.4 | 0.7 |
| Registered electors | 4,503 | | |
| | Labour gain from SNP | Swing | 12.0 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 11
Source:[5][6]
Ward 12
Ward 12 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Andrew Nisbet | 1,610 | 86.5 | 10.4 |
| | Conservative | James Mundell | 245 | 13.2 | 10.7 |
| Majority | 1,365 | 73.3 | 21.1 |
| Turnout | 1,855 | 45.4 | 4.7 |
| Registered electors | 4,096 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 10.5 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 13
Source:[5][6]
Ward 14
Ward 14 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Mills | 1,551 | 75.5 | 11.4 |
| | Conservative | Archibald Wight | 339 | 16.5 | 19.4 |
| | SNP | James Morrison | 162 | 7.9 | New |
| Majority | 1,212 | 59.0 | 30.8 |
| Turnout | 2,052 | 47.4 | 7.3 |
| Registered electors | 4,331 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 15.4 | |
Source:[5][6]
Ward 15
Source:[5][6]
Ward 16
Ward 16 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Anderson | 938 | 59.9 | 0.4 |
| | Conservative | James Barclay-Gall | 393 | 25.1 | 15.4 |
| | SNP | Alexander Young | 234 | 14.9 | New |
| Majority | 545 | 34.8 | 15.8 |
| Turnout | 1,565 | 60.2 | 8.6 |
| Registered electors | 2,601 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 7.9 | |
Source:[5][6]
Aftermath
Labour regained control of the district council from the minority Conservative administration which had been in power since the previous election in 1977. Cllr Andrew Nisbet was elected as Provost following the first meeting of the new council.[7]
The result reflected a "strong anti-Tory trend" across Scotland according to Conservative group leader Cllr Alan MacDougal while former SNP councillor Leslie Flannigan blamed the Thatcher government for the party's losses as they were caught "in the middle of a shift from Tory to Labour".[8]
By-elections
Ward 9
Ward 9 Labour councillor Maisie Garven died on 16 November 1980 and a by-election, held on 12 February 1981, was won by Labour's Robert Stirling.[9][10]
Ward 9 by-election, 12 February 1981 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Robert Stirling | 1,269 | 71.9 | 6.5 |
| | SNP | Charles Calman | 351 | 19.9 | 1.4 |
| | Conservative | Elizabeth Walker | 110 | 6.2 | New |
| | Scottish Movement Progressive Party | Gordon Walker | 36 | 2.0 | New |
| Majority | 918 | 52.0 | 5.1 |
| Turnout | 1,766 | 42.0 | 2.0 |
| Registered electors | 4,204 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 2.5 | |
Source:[10]
Ward 2
Labour group leader and Ward 2 councillor Robert Creighton died suddenly on 18 August 1982 and a by-election, held on 11 November, was won by Labour's James Campbell.[11][12]
Ward 2 by-election, 11 November 1982 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Campbell | 792 | 63.2 | 7.2 |
| | SNP | Danny Coffey | 460 | 36.7 | 20.4 |
| Majority | 332 | 26.5 | 27.6 |
| Turnout | 1,254 | 35.1 | 12.4 |
| Registered electors | 3,584 | | |
| | Labour hold | Swing | 13.8 | |
Source:[12][13]
References
- ^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ a b c Milligan, Alex (25 April 1980). "Three-year intrigue coming to an end". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Milligan, Alex (25 April 1980). "Three-year intrigue coming to an end". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1980). The Scottish District Elections 1980: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Andrew Nisbet takes chair". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 9 May 1980. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Hossack, Margaret (16 May 1980). "Mixed reaction at Labour win". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Death of councillor Mrs Maisie Garven". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 21 November 1980. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Death of councillor Mrs Maisie Garven". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 21 November 1980. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Councillor's death a 'tragic loss'". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 10 September 1982. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Labour's Jimmy wins the ward". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 19 November 1982. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Campbell and Coffey: Labour faces SNP challenge". Kilmarnock Standard. Kilmarnock. 12 November 1982. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4 
2 
