Local By-elections

'A LABOUR candidate has been banned from almost every pub in the area she hopes to represent - for brawling. Elaine Stewart, 36, was thrown out of her local after scrapping with her ex-husband ... The pair clashed in the Snug Bar in the Ayrshire village of Dalmellington.'
By Billy Paterson in the Sunday Mail 4 th July 2002.

Dalmellington (East Ayrshire) 18 th April 2002

Dalmellington - ward 31 Labour hold

There was a by-election for the Dalmellington ward of East Ayrshire Council on the 18 th of April 2002 following the retiral of Cllr Robert Taylor through ill health in February 2002.

Dalmellington is in the new Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Sandra Osborne MP) and in the Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Cathy Jamieson MSP).

Labour Cllr

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	% change
6 th June 2002 By-election Turnout % ( %)
	Labour	425	44.5 %	- 7.1 %
	Scottish National Party	473	40.1 %	+ 22.2 %
Murray Steel	Scottish Socialist Party	142	12.0 %	(+ 12.0 %)
	Conservative	39	3.3 %	(+ 3.3 %)
Labour hold	Labour majority	39	4.4 %	- 16.7 %

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	% change
6 th May 1999 Turnout 60.7 % (+ 16.5 %)
Cllr Robert Taylor	Labour	864	51.6 %	- 33.6 %
Hugh O'Neill	Independent	511	30.5 %	(+ 30.5 %)
Ludovic Thierry	Scottish National Party	299	17.9 %	+ 3.1 %
Labour hold	Labour majority	353	21.1 %	- 49.3 %

Dalmellington - Ward 27

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
6 th April 1995 Turnout 44.2 %
Cllr Robert Taylor	Labour	1,127	85.2 %
Alexander Lambert	Scottish National Party	196	14.8 %
Labour win	Labour majority	931	70.4 %

"It Well Recalls The Triumphs Past"

From Robert Taylor's Dalmellington

To introduce myself to you, my name is Robert Taylor and I was Councillor for Dalmellington from 1993 till 2002.

I was first elected in a by-election in October 1993. I was re-elected in May 1995, and then re-elected again in May 1999, but retired through ill health in February 2002.

Dalmellington is an ex-mining village that is now adapting to tourism. In these pages are only a few of the many attractions, and some of its' long and varied history.

Dalmellington is in Ayrshire in South West Scotland. It sits on the banks of the "River Doon" on the A713 between Ayr and Castle Douglas which is known as "The Galloway Tourist Route".

The village has seen poverty and plenty, it has struggled at times in the face of adversity, yet here in a new millennium this remarkable little village still exists.

Voted out of every pub; You're Barred

By Billy Paterson in the Sunday Mail 4 th July 2002

A LABOUR candidate has been banned from almost every pub in the area she hopes to represent - for brawling.

Elaine Stewart, 36, was thrown out of her local after scrapping with her ex-husband ... The pair clashed in the Snug Bar in the Ayrshire village of Dalmellington.