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Ayr (UK Parliament constituency)

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Not to be confused with Ayr (Scottish Parliament constituency).
For 1708–1950 constituency, see Ayr Burghs (UK Parliament constituency).
Ayr
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Ayr in Scotland for the 1997 general election
Subdivisions of ScotlandAyrshire
1950–2005
SeatsOne
Created fromAyr District of Burghs
Kilmarnock
South Ayrshire
Replaced byAyr, Carrick & Cumnock
Central Ayrshire

Ayr was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency was created by merging the Ayr burgh and Prestwick burgh components of the Ayr District of Burghs constituency with parts of the South Ayrshire and Kilmarnock constituencies.

1950 to 1974: The civil parishes of Ayr, Prestwick, Tarbolton and Symington, covering the modern electoral wards of: Ayr East, Ayr North, Ayr West, Prestwick, Kyle (omitting the villages of Dundonald and Loans) and Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton (taking in the village of Annbank and the rural area surrounding Ayr Hospital).[1][2]

1974 to 1983: The civil parishes of Ayr (except rural area around Ayr Hospital), Prestwick, Tarbolton and Symington, covering the modern electoral wards of: Ayr East, Ayr North, Ayr West, Prestwick, Kyle (omitting the villages of Dundonald and Loans) and Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton (taking in the village of Annbank).[3]

1983 to 1997: The towns of Ayr (except the suburb of Castlehill), Prestwick and Troon plus the villages of Dundonald and Loans, covering the modern electoral wards of Ayr East (except the suburb of Castlehill), Ayr North, Ayr West, Prestwick (except a rural portion of the ward located to the east of Prestwick International Airport), Troon and Kyle (Dundonald and Loans).[4]

1997 to 2005: The towns of Ayr (except the suburbs of Alloway, Doonfoot, Castlehill, Masonhill and part of Holmston plus the council estates of Kincaidston, part of Forehill and part of Belmont), Prestwick and Troon plus the villages of Dundonald and Loans, covering the modern electoral wards of Ayr West (except Alloway and Doonfoot), Ayr East (covering Old Belmont, part of Holmston and part of Forehill), Ayr North, Prestwick, Troon and Kyle (covering the villages of Dundonald and Loans). This change led to a substantial alteration in the demographic of the constituency with the Labour Party being the main beneficiaries.[5]

2005 onwards: In 2005 the constituency was divided between the new Central Ayrshire and Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituencies. This had a significant impact on the Conservative party due to the fact that their support in Ayr, Prestwick and Troon has since been split in to two separate, predominantly Labour-voting constituencies, neither of which have attained any considerable level of support for the Conservatives to match that of the Labour party. The town of Ayr joined two-thirds of the former Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency to form Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, with the remaining portion of the former Ayr constituency (based in Prestwick, Troon, Dundonald and Loans) joining Irvine, Annbank, Auchincruive, east Kilwinning and the remainder of Kyle to form Central Ayrshire.[6][7]

In the Scottish Parliament the Ayr constituency has existed since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. The constituency retained the same boundaries as that of the former Ayr constituency at Westminister (1997-2005) until the 2011 First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries. The constituency is currently composed of the electoral wards of Ayr East, Ayr North, Prestwick and Troon, covering the towns of Ayr, Prestwick and Troon.[8]

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Main article: Ayr (Scottish Parliament constituency) § Constituency profile and voting patterns

Member of Parliament

Election Member Party Notes
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1950 Sir Thomas Moore, Bt. Conservative Previously MP for Ayr Burghs
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1951
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1955
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1959
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1964 George Younger Conservative Later Viscount Younger of Leckie; Cabinet minister 1979-89
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1966
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1970
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | February 1974
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | October 1974
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1979
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1983
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1987
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1992 Phil Gallie Conservative Later an MSP for South of Scotland 1999-2007
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1997 Sandra Osborne Labour Subsequently MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2001
2005 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 2000s

File:New Sandra Osborne.jpg
Sandra Osborne
General Election 2001: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sandra Osborne 16,801 43.6 −4.9
Conservative Phil Gallie 14,256 37.0 +3.2
SNP Jim Mather 4,621 12.0 −0.6
Liberal Democrats Stuart David Richie 2,089 5.4 +0.7
Scottish Socialist James Scott Stewart 692 1.8 N/A
UKIP Joseph William Smith 101 0.3 N/A
Majority 2,545 6.6
Turnout 38,560 69.3 −10.7
Labour hold Swing −4.1

Elections in the 1990s

In 1997 Sandra Osborne became the first female MP to represent the Ayr constituency at the British Parliament, and Ayr's first ever Labour MP.
General Election 1997: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sandra Osborne 21,679 48.4 +7.8
Conservative Phil Gallie 15,136 33.8 −7.0
SNP Ian Blackford 5,625 12.6 +1.7
Liberal Democrats Miss Clare A. Hamblen 2,116 4.7 −2.8
Referendum John C. Enos 200 0.4 N/A
Majority 6,543 14.6 N/A
Turnout 44,756 80.0 −3.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +7.4
General Election 1992: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Phil Gallie 22,172 40.8 +1.4
Labour Alastair George Osborne 22,087 40.6 +1.5
SNP Mrs Barbara A. Mullin 5,949 10.9 +4.2
Liberal Democrats John Alan Boss 4,067 7.5 −7.3
Natural Law Richard B. Scott 132 0.2 N/A
Majority 85 0.2
Turnout 54,407 83.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

George Younger
General Election 1987: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 20,942 39.4 −3.4
Labour Keith McDonald 20,760 39.1 +12.3
Liberal Keith William Moody 7,859 14.8 −10.6
SNP Colin Traynor Weir 3,548 6.7 +1.8
Majority 182 0.3
Turnout 53,109 79.9
Conservative hold Swing −7.9
General Election 1983: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 21,325 42.8
Labour Keith McDonald 13,338 26.8
Liberal C.G. Brodie 12,740 25.6
SNP I.R. Goldie 2,431 4.9
Majority 7,987 16.0
Turnout 49,834 76.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Ayr [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 18,907 43.3
Labour K. McDonald 16,139 37.0
Liberal R. Mabon 4,656 10.7
SNP J. McGill 3,998 9.2
Majority 2,768 6.3
Turnout 43,700 79.8
Conservative hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Ayr [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 17,487 42.4
Labour R.S. Stewart 14,268 34.6
SNP Miss E. Robinson 6,902 16.7
Liberal M. Tosh 2,611 6.3
Majority 3,219 7.8
Turnout 41,268 79.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Ayr [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 21,626 50.46
Labour JA McFadden 16,528 38.56
SNP CD Calman 4,706 10.98
Majority 5,098 11.89
Turnout 41,268 83.15
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1970: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 22,220 52.68
Labour JM Craigen 17,770 42.13
SNP L Anderson 2,186 5.18
Majority 4,450 10.55
Turnout 81.46
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 19,988 50.61
Labour CE O'Halloran 19,504 49.39
Majority 484 1.23
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1964: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Younger 20,047 52.22
Labour Alex Eadie 18,346 47.78
Majority 1,701 4.43
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Ayr [12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Thomas Moore, Bt CBE 19,659 54.67
Labour Alex Eadie 16,303 45.33
Majority 3,356 9.33
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1955: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Thomas Moore, Bt CBE 20,006 59.06
Labour JMJ Auld 13,866 40.94
Majority 6,140 18.13
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1951: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Thomas Moore, Bt CBE 21,985 58.34
Labour JMJ Auld 15,702 41.66
Majority 6,283 16.67
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1950: Ayr
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Thomas Moore, Bt CBE 21,094 58.64
Labour J Pollock 14,880 41.36
Majority 6,214 17.27
Conservative hold Swing

References

  1. ^ 'Initial Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1950-1955) Ayr county constituency'
  2. ^ 'First Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1955-1974) Ayr county constituency'
  3. ^ 'Second Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1974-1983) Ayr county constituency'
  4. ^ 'Third Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1983 - 1997) Ayr county constituency'
  5. ^ 'Fourth Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1997-2005) Ayr county constituency'
  6. ^ 'Boundary Commission for Scotland UK Parliament 2005 onwards Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock county constituency'
  7. ^ 'Boundary Commission for Scotland UK Parliament 2005 onwards Central Ayrshire county constituency'
  8. ^ 'Boundary Commission for Scotland First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Recommended Scottish Parliament constituencies Ayr County Constituency'
  9. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1977
  10. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1977
  11. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1977
  12. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1963
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