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Dalmellington
Dalmellington
East Ayrshire
Electorate	3,051 (2003)
Major settlements	Dalmellington
Scottish Parliament constituency	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
Scottish Parliament region	South Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
1974–2007
Number of councillors	1
Replaced by	Doon Valley; Cumnock and New Cumnock

Dalmellington was one of 32 electoral wards of East Ayrshire Council. Originally created in 1974, the ward was initially within Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council before the local government reforms in the 1990s. The ward elected one councillor using the first-past-the-post voting electoral system.

The ward was a Labour stronghold as the party successfully held the seat at every election after gaining it from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1992 until it was abolished. In 1988, Dalmelington was the only ward in Scotland won by the newly formed SDP – a breakaway party from the Social and Liberal Democrats which was formed by a merger of the original Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party.

In 2007, the ward was abolished and replaced by the multi-member Doon Valley ward as council elections moved to a proportional voting system – the single transferable vote – following the implementation of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.

Boundaries

The Dalmellington ward was created in 1974 by the Formation Electoral Arrangements from the previous Dalmellington South electoral division of Ayr County Council. The ward centered around the town of Dalmellington and took in the southern part of Cumnock and Doon Valley next to its borders with Kyle and Carrick District Council and Stewartry District Council.^[1] The boundaries remained largely unchanged following the Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1981.^[2] A review in 1986 into the boundaries between the Cumnock and Doon Valley and Kyle and Carrick district councils saw an area to the south of Dalmellington transferred from Kyle and Carrick to Cumnock and Doon Valley which extended the council area to the boundary with Wigtown District Council and included the whole of Loch Doon within Cumnock and Doon Valley. All of the area transferred was included within the Dalmellington ward.^[3] Following the Second Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements in 1994, the ward's eastern boundary was moved west to reduce it in area as a result of the 1986 review.^[4] After the implementation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, the boundaries proposed by the second review became the Formation Electoral Arrangements for the newly created East Ayrshire Council – an amalgamation of Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council and Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council. In 1998, the Third Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements made minor alterations to the wards northern boundary ahead of the 1999 election.^[5] In 2007, the ward was abolished as the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 saw proportional representation and new multi-member wards introduced. The vast majority of the area covered by the Dalmellington ward was placed into the new Doon Valley ward and a small area became part of the Cumnock and New Cumnock ward.^[6]

Councillors

Election	Councillor
1974		R. Hill
1977		A. Johnstone
1984		T. Gormanley
1988		M. Ali
1992		H. Hatton
1995		R. Taylor
2003		E. Stewart

Election results

2003 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elaine Stewart	789	52.7	1.1
	SNP	Andrew Filson	645	43.1	25.2
	Conservative	James Boswell	40	2.7	New
	Scottish Socialist	Anne Baker	23	1.5	New
Majority			144	9.6	11.5
Turnout			1,497	58.6	2.5
Registered electors			2,555
	Labour hold		Swing	12.0

Source:^[7]^[8]

1999 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Taylor	864	51.6	33.6
	Independent	H. O'Neill	511	30.5	New
	SNP	N. Gee	299	17.9	3.1
Majority			353	21.1	49.3
Turnout			1,674	61.1	16.9
Registered electors			2,781
	Labour hold		Swing	32.0

Source:^[8]^[9]

1995 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Taylor	1,127	85.2	27.5
	SNP	A. Lambert	196	14.8	New
Majority			931	70.4	54.9
Turnout			1,323	44.2	6.8
Registered electors			2,991
	Labour hold		Swing	34.8

Source:^[9]^[10]

1992 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Hattan	897	57.7	27.3
	Independent	M. Ali	656	42.2	New
Majority			241	15.5	N/A
Turnout			1,553	51.0	14.0
Registered electors			3,050
	Labour gain from SDP		Swing	41.9

Source:^[10]^[11]

1988 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP	M. Ali	1,163	56.5	New'"`UNIQ−−ref−00000023−QINU`"'
	Labour	H. Walker	626	30.4	21.0
	Independent	T. Gormanley	171	8.3	New
	SNP	D. Kerr	96	4.7	New
Majority			537	26.1	N/A
Turnout			2,056	65.0	16.2
Registered electors			3,166
	SDP gain from Labour		Swing	28.2

Source:^[11]^[12]

1984 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Gormanley	790	51.4	16.8
	SDP	W. Steele	744	48.4	New
Majority			46	3.0	N/A
Turnout			1,534	48.8	2.4
Registered electors			3,151
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	40.8

Source:^[12]^[13]

1980 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	A. Johnstone	942	64.8	23.9
	Labour	A. Gormanley	503	34.6	13.6
Majority			439	30.2	24.4
Turnout			1,445	46.4	4.0
Registered electors			3,134
	Independent hold		Swing	29.5

Source:^[13]^[14]

1977 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A. Johnstone	682	40.9
	SLP	J. Stewart	585	35.1
	Labour	P. Conway	350	21.0
	Independent	R. Hill	50	3.0
Majority			97	5.8
Turnout			1,667	50.4
Registered electors			3,309
	Independent gain from Labour

Source:^[14]^[15]

1974 election

Dalmellington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	R. Hill	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,353
	Labour win (new seat)

Source:^[15]

Notes

^ At the 1984 election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won 48.4% of the vote in Dalmellington. They subsequently merged with the Liberal Party in March 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats. Some members of the SDP opposed the merger and split to form a new Social Democratic Party.

References

^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "Administrative area reviews 1977 to 1994". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "Second Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "Third Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. September 1998. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2003). Local Elections Handbook 2003 (PDF). Plymouth: Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. ISBN 0-948858-35-4. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1999). Local Elections Handbook 1999 (PDF). Plymouth: Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. ISBN 0-948858-25-7. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, H. M.; Denver, D. T. (1995). The Scottish Council Elections 1995: Results and Statistics (PDF). Newport on Tay: Election Studies. ISBN 1-869820-35-5. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1992). The Scottish Council Elections 1992: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. ISBN 1-869820-04-5. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1989). The Scottish District Elections 1988: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. ISBN 1-869820-02-9. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1984). The Scottish District Elections 1984: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1980). The Scottish District Elections 1980: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 3 January 2023.