An Taobh Siar agus Nis (Scottish Gaelic for 'West Side and Ness') is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Scottish Gaelic for 'Council of the Western Isles'). Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a four-member ward, the number of members elected in An Taobh Siar agus Nis was reduced following a boundary review and it has elected three councillors since the 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.
| An Taobh Siar agus Nis | |
|---|---|
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | |
 Boundary of An Taobh Siar agus Nis in Na h-Eileanan Siar from 2007–2022. | |
| Population | 2,668 (2021)[1] |
| Electorate | 2,552 (2022) |
| Major settlements | Barvas Port of Ness |
| Scottish Parliament constituency | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
| Scottish Parliament region | Highlands and Islands |
| UK Parliament constituency | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
| Current ward | |
| Created | 2007 |
| Number of councillors | 3 |
| Councillor | John N. MacLeod (Independent) |
| Councillor | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) |
| Councillor | Donald MacSween (Independent) |
| Created from | Barvas and Arnol Carloway Dell Gress Laxdale Port of Ness Shawbost |
Independents have dominated elections in the Western Isles and the majority of councillors elected in the area have had no party affiliation. However, since 2012, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have held one of the seats.
Boundaries
editThe ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so An Taobh Siar agus Nis was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Dell and Port of Ness wards, the majority of the former Barvas and Arnol and Shawbost wards as well as part of the former Carloway, Gress and Laxdale wards. The ward centres around the towns of Barvas and Port of Ness in the northwest of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It includes the remote and uninhabited Isle of Rona in the north Atlantic Ocean – the northernmost part of the council area.[2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have extended the ward south to include Carloway.[3] However, these were not adopted by Scottish ministers as plans for the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 would bring forward an interim review following the 2017 elections.[4]
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 allowed for the creation of single- and dual-member wards to allow for better representation of island areas. The boundaries for An Taobh Siar agus Nis were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act. However, the ward was reduced from a four-member ward to a three-member ward to improve electoral parity.[5]
Councillors
edit| Election | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Agnes Rennie (Independent) |
John MacKay (Independent) |
Kenneth M. Murray (Independent) |
Iain Morrison (Independent) | ||||
| 2012 | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | |||||||
| 2015 by-election |
John N. McLeod (Independent) | |||||||
| 2017 | Kenny J. MacLeod (Independent) | |||||||
| 2022 | Donald McSween (Independent) |
|||||||
Election results
edit2022 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Independent | John N. MacLeod (incumbent) | 25.0 | 346 | 356 | |||||
| SNP | Kenny MacLeod (incumbent) | 21.8 | 302 | 365 | |||||
| Independent | Donald MacSween | 19.6 | 271 | 282 | 288 | 290 | 339 | 479 | |
| Independent | Dorothy Morrison | 16.8 | 233 | 242 | 248 | 250 | 283 | ||
| Independent | Donald J. MacLeod | 9.5 | 131 | 133 | 135 | 138 | |||
| SNP | Finlay J. MacLeod | 7.4 | 102 | ||||||
| Electorate: 2,552 Valid: 1,414 Spoilt: 29 Quota: 347 Turnout: 55.4% | |||||||||
Source:[6]
2017 Election
edit2017 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election[7]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Independent | John N. MacLeod (incumbent) | 23.72 | 339 | ||||||
| SNP | Kenneth MacLeod (incumbent) | 19.38 | 277 | 286.85 | |||||
| Independent | Kenny John MacLeod | 16.72 | 239 | 260.89 | 261.11 | 310.99 | |||
| Independent | John MacKay (incumbent) | 15.4 | 220 | 224.38 | 224.63 | 254.81 | 261.75 | 339.88 | |
| Independent | Alistair MacLennan (incumbent) | 13.51 | 193 | 200.82 | 201 | 238.49 | 247.3 | ||
| Independent | Malcolm McTaggart | 11.27 | 161 | 164.44 | 164.52 | ||||
| Electorate: TBC Valid: 1,429 Spoilt: 35 Quota: 286 Turnout: 1,464 (57.6%) | |||||||||
2015 By-election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| Independent | John Norman MacLeod | 86.9% | 886 | |
| Independent | Richard Froggatt | 7.4% | 75 | |
| Scottish Green | Gavin MacLeod Humphreys | 5.8% | 59 | |
| Valid: 1,020 Quota: 511 Turnout: (39.8%) | ||||
2012 Election
edit2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||
| Independent | Iain Morrison (incumbent)†††† | 24.18% | 354 | ||
| Independent | John MacKay (incumbent) | 21.17% | 310 | ||
| SNP | Kenneth MacLeod | 20.36% | 298 | ||
| Independent | Kenneth MacLeod Murray (incumbent) †† | 19.74% | 289 | 316.4 | |
| Independent | Alastair MacLennan | 8.13% | 119 | 128.3 | |
| Independent | Alastair Dunlop | 6.42% | 94 | 103.3 | |
| Electorate: 2,599 Valid: 1,464 Spoilt: 21 Quota: 293 Turnout: 1,485 (56.34%) | |||||
2007 Election
edit2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Iain Morrison | 463 | 25.9 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent | John MacKay | 335 | 18.7 | 2 | 3 | |
| Independent | Kenneth MacLeod Murray | 313 | 17.5 | 3 | 5 | |
| Independent | Annie MacSween | 277 | 15.5 | |||
| Independent | Agnes Rennie | 267 | 14.9 | 4 | 7 | |
| Independent | Iain MacLeod | 118 | 6.6 | |||
| Independent | Malcolm McTaggart | 14 | 0.8 | |||
References
edit- ^ "An Taobh Siar agus Nis". Scottish Government. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an lar Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ "Council ward boundaries agreed". Scottish Government. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ "Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an Iar Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ Faulds, Allan. "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ "Local Government Elections 2017". Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
- ^ "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – 2015 Press Releases". cne-siar.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017.