Elections to South Ayrshire Council area were held on 1 May 2003, alongside elections to the Scottish Parliament. All 30 seats were up and this was the final election to the council using

First Past the Post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

. Whilst the

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

were able to achieve more votes than any other party in the council area, they only received 15 seats - no majority administration was formed with the Scottish Labour Party also holding 15 council seats. Labour continued to run the council after the election following a '' "cut of the cards"'' to decide which party would run the administration.

Election result

Ward results

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...
and Monkton

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...

Carrick

By-election

The North Carrick and Maybole East by-election was called following the resignation of South Ayrshire Labour Party leader Andy Hill on health grounds. In the election Independent candidate Brian Connolly won by a single vote. The loss of the ward for Labour allowed for the Conservatives to take control of the South Ayrshire Council area, governing with a 15-14 majority.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2003 2003 Scottish local elections 2003 21st century in South Ayrshire