Loch a Tuath (Scottish Gaelic for 'Broad Bay', lit. 'North Loch'') 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 and covers an area with a population of 2,654 people.
| Loch a Tuath | |
|---|---|
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | |
 Boundary of Loch a Tuath in Na h-Eileanan Siar from 2007–2022. | |
| Population | 2,654 (2021)[1] |
| Electorate | 2,216 (2022) |
| Major settlements | Coll North Tolsta |
| 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 | Donald F. Crichton (Independent) |
| Councillor | Calum MacLean (Independent) |
| Councillor | John A. MacIver (SNP) |
| Created from | Barvas and Arnol Blackwater Braighe Carloway Coll Gress Laxdale |
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 Loch a Tuath was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Coll ward, the majority of the former Blackwater, Gress and Laxdale wards as well as part of the former Barvas and Arnol, Braighe and Carloway wards. The ward centres around the towns of Coll and North Tolsta in the northeast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.[2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have maintained the ward's original boundaries.[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 and number of members representing Loch a Tuath were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act.[5]
Councillors
edit| Election | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP) |
Kenneth MacIver (Independent) |
Catriona Stewart (Independent) | |||||
| 2012 | Donald Finlayson Crichton (Independent) | |||||||
| 2017 | Callum McLean (Independent) | |||||||
| 2022 | ||||||||
Election results
edit2022 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||
| Independent | Donald F. Crichton (incumbent) | 41.1 | 461 | ||
| Independent | Calum MacLean (incumbent) | 22.2 | 249 | 330 | |
| SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 21.9 | 246 | 281 | |
| Independent | Catriona Murray | 11.2 | 126 | 168 | |
| Independent | Hazel G. Mansfield | 3.5 | 39 | 46 | |
| Electorate: 2,216 Valid: 1,121 Spoilt: 27 Quota: 281 Turnout: 51.8% | |||||
Source:[6]
2017 election
edit| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Independent | Donald Crichton (incumbent) | 46.0 | 590 | |||||
| Independent | Calum MacLean | 17.9 | 230 | 344 | ||||
| SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 17.9 | 230 | 271 | 276 | 298 | 335 | |
| Independent | Iain MacIver | 6.1 | 78 | 115 | 119 | 137 | 170 | |
| Independent | Ruaraidh Ferguson | 6.2 | 80 | 110 | 113 | 132 | ||
| Independent | Allan MacLachlan | 5.8 | 74 | 98 | 104 | |||
| Electorate: 2,255 Valid: 1,282 Spoilt: 35 Quota: 321 Turnout: 58.4% | ||||||||
Source: [7]
2012 Election
edit2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Independent | Donald Finlayson Crichton | 28.0% | 331 | ||||
| SNP | John A. MacIver (incumbent) | 24.53% | 290 | 298.4 | |||
| Independent | Catriona Stewart (incumbent) | 23.88% | 273 | 282.5 | 283.1 | 333.1 | |
| Independent | Kenneth MacIver (incumbent) | 14.47% | 171 | 177.9 | 178.5 | 201.8 | |
| Independent | Alasdair Nicholson | 9.9% | 117 | 122.1 | 122.7 | ||
| Electorate: 2,166 Valid: 1,182 Spoilt: 17 Quota: 296 Turnout: 1,199 (54.57%) | |||||||
2007 Election
edit2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | % | Seat | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Catriona Stewart | 486 | 36.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent | Kenneth MacIver | 249 | 18.4 | 2 | 3 | |
| SNP | Iain Murdo MacDonald | 235 | 17.4 | |||
| Independent | John A. MacIver† | 233 | 17.3 | 3 | 5 | |
| Independent | Alasdair Nicholson | 147 | 10.9 | |||
References
edit- ^ "Loch a Tuath". Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 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 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Council ward boundaries agreed". Scottish Government. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an Iar Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ Faulds, Allan. "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Results 2017 Eilean Siar". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 1 November 2024.