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East Ayrshire Council

*Comhairle Shiorrachd Inbhir Àir an Ear*
East Ayrshire Council ; Comhairle Shiorrachd Inbhir Àir an Ear
	Coat of Arms
	Council logo
Leadership
Provost	Claire Leitch, ; SNP ; since 31 October 2024
Leader	Douglas Reid, ; SNP ; since 17 May 2007
Chief Executive	Eddie Fraser ; since January 2021
Structure
Seats	32
	Results of the 2022 election:
Political groups	Administration (14) SNP (14) Other parties (18) Labour (10) Conservative (4) Independents (3) Rubbish Party (1)
Elections
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
	Council Headquarters, London Road, Kilmarnock, KA3 7BU
Website
	www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk

East Ayrshire Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Shiorrachd Inbhir Àir an Ear) is the political body covering the East Ayrshire local authority created in 1995, comprising nine wards, each electing three of four local councillors through the single transferable vote system, creating a type of proportional representation.

Overview

Formation and Coat of Arms

East Ayrshire Council was formed in April 1995 and combined the former Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Cumnock and Doon Valley District Councils, together with a part of Strathclyde Regional Council. The newly formed East Ayrshire Council adopted its own coat of arms consisting of three main sections, which amongst appearing on boundary signage to the area, also appear on the chains worn by the provost and depute provost. The top of the councils coat of arms features a black diamond which is to symbolise the areas history of coal mining. Next to the black diamond is a fir tree which represents the areas forestry, agriculture and rural landscape. Both components, the black diamonds and fir trees, were adopted from the former Cumnock and Doon Valley Coat of Arms. A red cog is situated next to the fir tree to symbolise the areas industry and industrial history.^[4]

The middle section of the main coat of arms was lifted directly from the Boyds of Kilmarnock Coat of Arms which feature blue wavy lines to symbolise the two river valleys within East Ayrshire - the Irvine Valley and the Doon Valley. The Campbells of Loudoun Coat of Arms was incorporated in the bottom section of the coat of arms of East Ayrshire Council. The coat of arms of East Ayrshire Council is supported by a red squirrel which was taken from the original Kilmarnock Coat of Arms, together with a lion rampant which was lifted from the Coat of Arms of the town of Cumnock. At the top features a coronet, a feature given to all landward councils in Scotland, whilst the councils motto, Forward Together, is featured at the bottom.^[5]

Provost and chief executive

Together with the Leader of the Council, the council is represented by the provost and their depute. The provost is the civic head of East Ayrshire Council and is the equivalent of a mayor in other countries. The provost and depute provost represent the Council in the protocol party in regards to official or royal visits, and have the responsibility for arrangements which are implemented by the Lord Lieutenant. The incumbent provost of East Ayrshire Council is Councillor Claire Leitch, supported by her depute provost, John McGhee. They both assumed their respective offices on 31 October 2024.^[6]

The council's chief executive is Eddie Fraser, who was appointed to the role in January 2021,^[7] following the retirement of former Chief Executive, Fiona Lees in 2021 after having served as Chief Executive for the council since April 2004.^[8]

The Governance and Scrutiny Committee of East Ayrshire Council is tasked with examining, scrutinising, challenging and asking questions relating to matters regards delivery of services by the council, as well as having some powers over how the council conducts its affairs and business.^[9]

Political control and leadership

The first election to East Ayrshire Council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:^[10]

The council has been under no overall control since 2007, with the Scottish National Party leading a variety of minority administrations since then. The next election is due in 2027. The council's civic head takes the title of provost. This is a largely ceremonial role, chairing council meetings and acting as the area's first citizen. Although an elected councillor, the provost is expected to be politically impartial.^[1] Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, who has been Douglas Reid of the SNP since 2007.

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–2007
	No overall control	2007–

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:^[11]

Councillor		From	To
David Sneller	Labour	1 Apr 1996	6 May 1999
Drew McIntyre	Labour	13 May 1999	May 2007
Douglas Reid	SNP	17 May 2007

Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:^[10]

Year	Seats	SNP	Labour	Conservative	Independent / Other	Notes
Year	Seats					Notes
1995	30	8	22	0	0	Labour majority
1999	32	14	17	1	0	New ward boundaries.^[12] Labour majority
2003	32	8	23	1	0	Labour majority
2007	32	14	14	3	1	New ward boundaries.^[13]
2012	32	15	14	2	1	SNP / Conservative coalition
2017	32	14	9	6	2^[a]	New ward boundaries.^[14] SNP minority administration
2022	32	14	10	4	4^[b]	SNP minority administration

^ One being from The Rubbish Party
^ One being from The Rubbish Party

Council Committees

East Ayrshire Council have a number of committees that support its work in delivering services to the population of East Ayrshire. Some committees, such as the Ayrshire Shared Services Joint Committee, also have representatives from South Ayrshire and North Ayrshire attending.^[15]

The current committees of East Ayrshire Council are;^[16]

Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee
Ayrshire Economic Partnership
Audit and Performance Committee
East Ayrshire Council Executive Committee
Appeals Panel
Ayrshire Shared Services Joint Committee (with South Ayrshire Council and North Ayrshire Council)
Cabinet
Community Planning Partnership Board
Council
East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board
East Ayrshire Strategic Planning Group

Governance & Scrutiny Committee
Grants Committee
JCC Central
JNC for Teaching Staff
Licensing Forum
Local Government Licensing Panel
Local Review Body
Planning Committee
Police and Fire and Rescue Committee
Recruitment Panel

Premises

The council's main offices are at Council Headquarters on London Road, Kilmarnock. The building was built as the James Hamilton School, which was designed by William Reid, the Ayrshire county architect, and opened in 1933.^[17] The school relocated to a new site in 1977 and the buildings became the London Road Centre and were used for various purposes until they were converted to offices for East Ayrshire Council ahead of the new council's creation in 1996.^[18]^[19]

Wards

Since 2017 the area has divided into nine multi-member wards returning 32 members:^[14]^[20]^[21]^[22]

Ward Number	Ward Name	Seats
1	Annick	4
2	Kilmarnock North	3
3	Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse	4
4	Kilmarnock East and Hurlford	4
5	Kilmarnock South	3
6	Irvine Valley	3
7	Ballochmyle	4
8	Cumnock and New Cumnock	4
9	Doon Valley	3