1977 Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election

1977 Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election
All 16 seats to Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council; 9 seats needed for a majority
Registered	61,152
Turnout	51.1%
Council Leader before election; ; Labour	Council Leader after election ; TBD;

Elections to Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council were held on 3 May 1977, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the second election to the district council following the local government reforms in 1974.

The election used the original 16 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.^[1]

Labour won the popular vote despite their vote share decreasing by 16.3% and, as a result, lost overall control of the district council. The party lost five seats to hold seven – two short of an overall majority. The Conservatives tied as the joint-largest party with Labour on seven seats – an increase of three from previous election in 1974. For the first time, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won seats in Kilmarnock and Loudoun as they took the remaining two seats which put them in position as the kingmaker.

Results

1977 Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council election result
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	7	0	5	5	43.7	38.6	12,000	16.3
	Conservative	7	3	0	3	43.7	32.2	10,028	1.4
	SNP	2	2	0	2	12.5	25.8	8,032	New
	Liberal	0	0	0		0.0	2.4	734	11.2
	SLP	0	0	0		0.0	0.8	241	New
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	62	New
Total		16						31,097

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward results

Ward 1

Ward 1
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	R. Brown	1,139	45.3	*New*
	Labour	J. Raphael	901	35.9	32.3
	Conservative	C. Peever	472	18.8	13.1
Majority			238	9.4	N/A
Turnout			2,512	54.5	9.0
Registered electors			4,613
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	38.8

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 2

Ward 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Creighton	968	60.7	0.1
	Liberal	P. McMillan	626	39.3	15.4
Majority			342	21.4	15.3
Turnout			1,594	42.7	6.7
Registered electors			3,795
	Labour hold		Swing	7.6

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 3

Ward 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Hunter	917	44.9	28.9
	SNP	R. Brailsford	700	34.3	New
	Conservative	J. Steele	424	20.8	5.4
Majority			217	10.6	37.0
Turnout			2,041	48.8	5.8
Registered electors			4,206
	Labour hold		Swing	31.6

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 4

Ward 4
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Ledgerwood	782	38.1	3.8
	SNP	J. Langlands	678	33.0	New
	Labour	B. McAree	484	23.6	7.0
	Liberal	T. Purdon	108	5.3	12.4
Majority			104	5.1	6.2
Turnout			2,052	51.7	6.2
Registered electors			3,978
	Conservative hold		Swing	18.4

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 5

Ward 5
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Anderson	1,040	52.1	25.9
	SNP	C. Calman	957	47.9	New
Majority			83	4.2	60.8
Turnout			1,997	51.6	4.9
Registered electors			3,895
	Labour hold		Swing	36.9

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 6

Ward 6
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Parker	1,156	56.5	0.4
	SNP	P. Gibson	507	24.8	New
	Labour	J. Hollywood	383	18.7	14.1
Majority			649	21.7	2.4
Turnout			2,046	62.0	4.7
Registered electors			3,304
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.6

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 7

Ward 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Porter	812	35.9	8.1
	SNP	R. Ferguson	756	33.4	New
	Labour	G. Wallace	634	28.0	18.8
	Independent	T. Ryan	62	2.7	New
Majority			56	2.5	N/A
Turnout			2,264	58.0	1.1
Registered electors			3,906
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	20.7

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 8

Ward 8
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Porter	1,430	80.9	14.6
	Labour	W. Maxwell	337	19.1	0.7
Majority			1,093	61.8	15.3
Turnout			1,767	48.7	7.0
Registered electors			3,667
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.6

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 9

Ward 9
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Garven	892	41.7	26.4
	SNP	C. Calderwood	877	41.0	New
	Conservative	J. Watson	370	17.3	1.3
Majority			15	0.7	48.8
Turnout			2,139	50.8	5.6
Registered electors			4,213
	Labour hold		Swing	33.7

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 10

Ward 10
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	L. Flannigan	983	43.8	*New*
	Labour	T. Ferguson	885	39.4	32.8
	Conservative	W. Adams	270	12.0	3.8
	SLP	P. Clark	108	4.8	New
Majority			98	4.4	N/A
Turnout			2,246	48.1	6.2
Registered electors			4,676
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	38.3

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 11

Ward 11
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Thomson	1,225	85.7	28.5
	Labour	A. McKinlay	204	14.3	4.3
Majority			1,021	71.4	38.4
Turnout			1,429	50.9	3.6
Registered electors			2,833
	Conservative hold		Swing	16.4

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 12

Ward 12
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Nisbet	1,237	76.1	4.8
	Conservative	D. MacIntosh	388	23.9	4.7
Majority			849	52.2	9.5
Turnout			1,625	40.7	7.6
Registered electors			4,028
	Labour hold		Swing	4.7

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 13

Ward 13
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. MacDougall	973	35.2	13.1
	SNP	W. Lamond	915	33.1	New
	Labour	B. McGeechan	743	26.9	19.4
	SLP	J. McFadden	133	4.8	New
Majority			58	2.1	N/A
Turnout			2,764	63.6	8.4
Registered electors			4,359
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	16.2

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 14

Ward 14
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Lundie	1,059	64.1	8.8
	Conservative	A. Wight	592	35.9	17.1
Majority			467	28.2	25.9
Turnout			1,651	40.1	12.8
Registered electors			4,156
	Labour hold		Swing	12.9

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 15

Ward 15
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Whale	615	36.4	8.4
	Labour	C. Brown	553	32.8	14.8
	SNP	M. Blaney	520	30.8	New
Majority			62	3.6	N/A
Turnout			1,688	55.9	3.4
Registered electors			3,025
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	11.6

Source:^[2]^[3]

Ward 16

Ward 16
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Anderson	763	59.5	2.1
	Conservative	J. Armstrong	519	40.5	22.7
Majority			244	19.0	13.6
Turnout			1,282	51.6	9.0
Registered electors			2,498
	Labour hold		Swing	10.8

Source:^[2]^[3]

References

^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q 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.

[1] "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[SCE1977-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1977). The Scottish District Elections 1977: Results and Statistics (PDF). Dundee: Election Studies, University of Dundee. Retrieved 3 January 2023.

[SRE1974-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q 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.

[1]

[2]

[3]