Local By-elections

'Bothwell South should not be forgotten by the national politicians. It is a wake-up call they will ignore at their peril.'
Tom Brown, 27 th June 2004.

Dundonald & Loans (South Ayrshire) 15 th January 2004

Dundonald & Loans - ward 22 Conservative hold

There was an all-postal by-election for the Dundonald & Loans ward of South Ayrshire Council on the 15 th of January 2004 following the death of Cllr William McNally on 19 th October 2003.

Bothwell South is in the new Central Ayrshire Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Brian Donohoe MP) and in the Ayr Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Tory John Scott MSP).

Tory Cllr Arthur Spurling

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	% change
15 th January 2004 By-election Turnout 62.1 % (+ 4.5 %)
Arthur Spelling	Conservative	1,072	55.8 %	+ 2.4 %
Sandra Marshall	Labour	506	26.4 %	- 1.1 %
Nan McFarlane	Scottish National Party	242	12.6 %	- 6.5 %
Stuart Ritchie	Liberal Democrat	100	5.2 %	(+ 5.2 %)
Conservative hold	Conservative majority	566	29.5 %	+ 3.5 %

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	% change
1 st May 2003 Turnout 57.6 % (- 10.6 %)
Cllr William McNally	Conservative	910	53.4 %	+ 13.3 %
Alexander Skilling	Labour	468	27.5 %	- 7.8 %
Susan Jones	Scottish National Party	326	19.1 %	- 5.7 %
Conservative hold	Conservative majority	442	25.9 %	+ 21.0 %

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	% change
6 th May 1999 Turnout 68.2 % (+ 13.0 %)
William McNally	Conservative	804	40.1 %	+ 7.3 %
Alexander Skilling	Labour	705	35.1 %	- 16.7 %
Maureen McElroy	Scottish National Party	498	24.8 %	+ 9.4 %
Conservative gain from Labour	Conservative majority	99	4.9 %

Dundonald - ward 17

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
6 th April 1995 Turnout 55.2 %
Elaine Murray	Labour	1,067	51.8 %
James Gilmour	Conservative	676	32.8 %
Fiona O'Connor	Scottish National Party	318	15.4 %
Labour win	Labour majority	391	19.0 %

Four candidates nominated for South Ayrshire by-election

From the South Ayrshire Council December 2003

A total of four candidates have been nominated for a by-election taking place in January to fill a vacant seat on South Ayrshire Council.

An all-postal ballot is to be held for the first time in South Ayrshire in a pilot scheme that has been authorised by Scottish Ministers for the by-election to be held in Electoral Ward 22 - Dundonald and Loans - on 15 January 2004.

The vacancy has occurred following the death of Councillor William McNally, who had represented the Dundonald and Loans ward since 1999.

The candidates nominated are:

Sandra Marshall, Scottish Labour Party Candidate.
Nan McFarlane, Scottish National Party (SNP).
Stuart Ritchie, Scottish Liberal Democrat.
Arthur Spurling, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Candidate.

A letter has been sent to each of the 3093 electors in the Dundonald and Loans Ward, advising voters how the all-postal ballot will operate and providing details of the VotersÕ Help Centres that will be operated by Council staff.

All the ballot papers will be handed over to the Royal Mail on 5 January 2004 for delivery in the Ward. Completed postal ballot papers must be posted by 4 pm on Wednesday, 14 January, to be received by the Returning Officer, County Buildings, Wellington Square, Ayr, no later than 5 pm on Thursday, 15 January 2004.

In order to provide assistance to anyone who has any questions regarding the voting procedures an Election Helpline has been established, telephone no: 01292 612222. It will operate during office hours and also provides an out-of-hours answering service until the close of Poll on 15 January 2004.

The official count of the votes will take place in the County Hall, Ayr, on Thursday 15 January 2004 at 6 pm.

At the May, 2003, South Ayrshire Council Election, William McNally, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party candidate was returned with a majority of 442.

Tories record by-election triumph

From BBC Scotland News 15 th January 2004

The Conservative Party has triumphed in one of the first council by-elections in Scotland to be conducted by postal ballot.

Arthur Spurling was returned as the winning candidate for the Dundonald and Loans ward in South Ayrshire with 1,072 votes.

He took the seat with a majority of 556 over Labour candidate Sandra Marshall, who won 506 votes.

Turnout was said to be just over 62% for the by-election.

It was the first to be held in the region since the Scottish Executive introduced the pilot postal voting scheme.

The move was designed to overcome voter apathy after less than half the electorate, 49.4%, went to the polls in last year's Holyrood elections.

The vacancy followed the death last year of Conservative Councillor William McNally.

SNP candidate Nan McFarlane came third with 242 votes, while Liberal Democrat Stuart Ritchie finished fourth with 100 votes.

The by-election result has no effect on the political composition of South Ayrshire Council, which has 15 Labour and 15 Conservative councillors.

Tories First Past the Post

By Paul OÕHare, Scottish Press Association in the Scotsman 16 th January 2004

The Conservatives were celebrating today after triumphing in one of the first council by-elections in Scotland to be conducted by postal ballot.

Arthur Spurling was returned as the winning candidate for the Dundonald and Loans ward in South Ayrshire with 1,072 votes.

He took the seat last night with a majority of 556 over Labour candidate Sandra Marshall, who won 506 votes.

Turnout was just over 62% for the by-election, which was the first to be held in the region since the Scottish Executive introduced the pilot postal voting scheme.

The move was designed to overcome voter apathy after less than half the electorate Ð 49.4% Ð went to the polls in last yearÕs Holyrood elections.

The vacancy followed the death last year of Conservative councillor William McNally.

SNP candidate Nan McFarlane came third with 242 votes, while Liberal Democrat Stuart Ritchie finished fourth with 100 votes.

The by-election result has no effect on the political composition of South Ayrshire Council, which has 15 Labour and 15 Conservative councillors.