The 2012 North Ayrshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of

North Ayrshire Council North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. The election used the eight

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

created as a result of the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, with 30 Councillors being elected. The election saw the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

make further advances by gaining four seats to become the largest party on the Council while also increasing their vote share significantly.

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the 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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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: 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

References

{{2012 United Kingdom local elections North Ayrshire Council elections

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...