 | 'A new cross-party pressure group dedicated to getting proportional representation introduced for local government elections yesterday claimed that nearly half of those voting in Scottish council polls failed to get a councillor of their choice' Frances MacFarlane in the Herald, 23 rd January 2001. |  |
There was a by-election for the Auchtertool & Burntisland East ward of Fife Council on the 20 th of September 2001 following following the election of Cllr John MacDougall as MP for Central Fife in succession to Henry McLeish on the 7 th June 2001.
The ward was won by the Lib Dems at the 2001 by-election, then lost to an Independent at the 2003 elections. At a by-election in September 2005, the ward was won by the Scottish National Party's George Kay.
Auchtertool & Burntisland East is in the new Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Dr Gordon Brown MP) and in the Kirkcaldy Scottish parliamentary seat (held By Louour Co-op MSP Marilyn Livingstone).
Lib Dem gain from Labour. Swing: 29.5 % from Labour to Lib Dem.
| 20 th September 2001 By-election Turnout 41.0 % | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Hipwell |  |
Liberal Democrat | 468 | 34.1 % | + 17.1 % |
| George Kay |  |
Scottish National Party | 377 | 27.4 % | - 1.2 % |
 |
Labour | 296 | 21.5 % | - 32.9 % | |
| William Leggatt |  |
Independent | 215 | 15.6 % | (+ 15.6 %) |
| Kenny Mcleod |  |
Scottish Socialist Party | 18 | 1.2 % | (+ 1.2 %) |
| Liberal Democrat gain from Labour | |
Liberal Democrat majority | 91 | 6.7 % | |
| 6 th May 1999 Turnout 59.0 % | ||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr John MacDougall | |
Labour | 1,058 | 54.4 % |
| Carol Gorton | |
Scottish National Party | 557 | 28.6 % |
| Paula Martin | |
Liberal Democrat | 330 | 17.0 % |
| Labour win | |
Labour majority | 501 | 25.8 % |
| 6 th April 1995 Turnout 44.3 % | ||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr John MacDougall | |
Labour | 660 | 59.8 % |
| Iain Sommerville | |
Scottish National Party | 380 | 34.5 % |
| Paula Martin | |
Liberal Democrat | 63 | 5.7 % |
| Labour win | |
Labour majority | 280 | 25.4 % |
There will be by-election in the Auchtertool & Burntisland East ward of Fife Council following the election of Cllr John MacDougall as MP for Central Fife. Like his predecessor Henry McLeish, John MacDougall was the leader of the local council. Labour will be hoping that this is as far as the similarity goes. When Henry McLeish resigned to take up his Westminster seat in 1987, the Scottish National Party won his Kennoway regional council ward and have held it and its successors ever since.
In the original 'regionalisation' plan, 'the kingdom of Fife' was to be split between Lothians and Tayside. However, Fife refused to be axed and a new Fife Region was created with three Districts Councils - Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, and North East Fife.
Auchtertool & Burntisland East is in the Kirkcaldy constituency of Dr Lewis Moonie and was part of Kirkcaldy District Council.
The Fife Regional Council seat of Burntisland/Kinghorn was held by John MacDougall in 1990. He took 1,603 votes (44.8 %) giving him a 480 majority (13.4 %) over Tory J. Edmiston with 1,123 votes (31.4 %). In third place was the SNP's R. Bain with 663 votes 18.5 %) ahead of the Lib Dem P. Rainger with 193 votes (5.4 %).
In the last regional council elections in 1994, John MacDougall won the new Burntisland & Auchtertool ward with 1,316 votes (52.9 %) giving him a 510 majority (20.5 %) over the SNP's Carol Gorton with 806 votes (32.4 %). In third place was Tory A. Fraser with 211 votes (8.5 %) ahead of Lib Dem Paula Martin with 156 votes 6.3 %
In the 1992 District Council elections, Labour won 26 of the Kirkcaldy wards with 49.4 % of the vote, the SNP won 7 with 27.0 %, Independents three wards with 6.9 %, the Lib Dems two wards with 8.6 % and the Tories two wards with 8.3 % of the vote. Seven wards changed hands with the SNP up five, the Tories up one, and Labour down six. The SNP won Kennoway, Leslie, Pitteuchar, Rimbleton and Smeaton from Labour, an Independent won East Wemyss/Muiredge from Labour and the Tories won Markinch from an Independent.
Kinghorn/Burntisland East was held by Independent Cllr J. Edmiston who took 749 votes (46.0 %) giving him a 167 majority (10.3 %) over Labour's J. McLeod with 582 votes (35.7 %) while the SNP's A. Page came third with 297 votes (18.2 %). Burntisland West was held by Labour's Fraser Ballantyne with 810 votes (60.5 %) giving him a 282 majority (21.1 %) over the SNP's Carol Gorton who polled 528 votes (39.5 %).
There was a major reorganisation in Fife for the 1995 unitary council elections with the region being used as the basis for the new council which comprised the old District Councils of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and North East Fife. The new Fife authority was won easily by Labour who took 54 wards compared to, 25 for the Liberal Democrats, 9 for the Scottish National Party, with 3 Independents and 1 Communist making up the council. The Tories failed to one any of the 92 wards on the council.
In 1995 following boundary changes, Fraser Ballantyne, the Labour District Councillor for Kinghorn/Burntisland East became unitary councillor for Burntisland East. He took 631 votes (55.8 %) giving him a majority of 215 (19.0 %) over the SNP's Carol Gorton with 416 votes (36.8 %) while Lib Dem Max Wolf polled 84 votes (7.4 %). In neighbouring Burntisland West/Auchtertool, John MacDougall the Labour Regional Councillor for Burntisland & Auchtertool, won the ward for Labour with 660 votes (59.8 %) giving him a majority of 280 (25.4 %) over the SNP's Iain Sommerville with 380 votes (34.5 %) with Lib Dem Paula Martin polling 63 votes (5.7 %).
There were major boundary changes in Fife for the 1999 election with the number of wards being reduced by 24 from 92 to 78. After the 1999 elections, Fife Council consisted of 43 Labour, 21 Liberal Democrats, 9 Scottish National Party, 2 Tories, 2 Independents, one Communist and one Democratic Left. councillor.
John MacDougall stood in the new ward of Auchtertool & Burntisland East which he won with 1058 votes (54.4 %) giving him a majority of 501 (25.8 %) over the SNP's Carol Gorton with 557 votes (28.6 %) with Lib Dem Paula Martin polling 330 votes (17.0 %).
John MacDougall succeeded Alex Rowley as leader of Fife Council. The by-election is caused by his election as MP for Central Fife in succession to First Minister Henry McLeish.
Pending the by-election, the political composition of Fife Council is 42 Labour, 21 Lib Dems, 10 SNP, two Tories, one Independent, one Democratic Left and one Communist. (The SNP won South Parks & Macedonia from Labour in October 2000).
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