Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley shown within the South Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	82,864 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Willie Coffey
Council area	East Ayrshire
Created from	Kilmarnock and Loudoun

Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The seat was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, following the redrawing and renaming of the old Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency which had been in the Central Scotland region. It has been held continuously by Willie Coffey of the Scottish National Party, who was previously the member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun.

Electoral region[edit]

The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are: Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, East Lothian, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area[edit]

East Ayrshire is represented in the Scottish Parliament by two constituencies: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley and Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

The electoral wards in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency are listed below. All of these wards are part of East Ayrshire:^[2]

• Annick
• Kilmarnock North
• Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse
• Kilmarnock East and Hurlford
• Kilmarnock South
• Irvine Valley

Constituency profile[edit]

The Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency is a part-urban part-rural constituency located along the northern half of the East Ayrshire council area. Towards the south-west of the constituency is the town of Kilmarnock and its adjoining towns and villages. Kilmarnock is a former industrial town which is mostly made up of social housing, with some suburban housing towards the western end of the town. To the east of the town, along the valley of the River Irvine, is a string of industrial towns and villages such as Galston and Newmilns located within the parish of Loudoun. The region was once dependent upon the manufacture of textiles before the industry's collapse throughout the mid-20th Century. The north of the constituency is mostly made up of farmlands, with the historic town of Stewarton lying directly north of Kilmarnock along the Annick Water.

Member of the Scottish Parliament[edit]

Election results[edit]

2020s[edit]

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley^[3][4][5][6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Willie Coffey[a]	21,418	52.7	2.7	18,649	45.8	3.4
	Labour	Kevin McGregor	9,737	24.0	1.2	8,199	20.1	0.8
	Conservative	Brian Whittle[b]	8,295	20.4	1.2	8,781	21.6	1.9
	Scottish Green					2,017	5.0	0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen McQuistin	919	2.3	0.3	868	2.1	0.0
	All for Unity					706	1.7	New
	Alba					636	1.6	New
	Independent Green Voice					223	0.5	New
	Scottish Family					177	0.4	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					137	0.3	New
	Libertarian	Stef Johnstone	253	0.6	New	89	0.2	New
	Reform UK					86	0.2	New
	UKIP					57	0.1	1.9
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					61	0.1	New
	Scotia Future					23	0.1	New
	Vanguard Party (UK)					11	0.0	New
Majority			11,681	28.7	3.9
Valid Votes			40,622			40,720
Invalid Votes			90			55
Turnout			40,712	61.5	6.4	40,775	61.6	6.5
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s[edit]

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley^[4][7][8]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Willie Coffey[a]	19,047	55.4	2.2	16,952	49.2	0.8
	Labour	Dave Meechan	7,853	22.8	11.6	7,209	20.9	10.9
	Conservative	Brian Whittle[b]	6,597	19.2	8.8	6,799	19.7	9.4
	Scottish Green					1,522	4.4	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Plenderleith	888	2.6	0.7	710	2.1	0.5
	UKIP					706	2.0	1.4
	Solidarity					251	0.7	0.5
	RISE					193	0.6	New
	Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent					121	0.4	New
Majority			11,194	32.6	13.8
Valid Votes			34,385			34,463
Invalid Votes			116			49
Turnout			34,501	55.1	4.5	34,512	55.1	4.5
	SNP hold		Swing		6.8
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency ^ Elected on the party list

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• "Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 6 August 2021.