1974 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election

Elections to Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council were held on 7 May 1974, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the first election to the district council following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

1974 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election
7 May 1974 (1974-05-07) 1977 →

All 10 seats to Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council
6 seats needed for a majority
Registered33,876
Turnout53.7%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lab
ILab
Con
Party Labour Independent Labour Conservative
Seats won 8 1 1
Popular vote 1,331 1,642 778
Percentage 35.5% 43.7% 20.7%

Council Leader after election


Labour

The election used 10 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.[1]

Labour took control of the council after winning a large majority despite none of their candidates winning a contested seat. Labour were the only party to stand candidates in every seat with eight elected unopposed. The two seats which were contested were won by the Conservatives and an independent Labour candidate. As a result of the large number of uncontested seats, independent Labour won the popular vote.

Background

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Prior to 1974, Cumnock (known as Cumnock and Holmhead until 1960) was one of 17 burghs within the County of Ayr.[2] The area was made a burgh of barony by Royal Charter in 1509 before becoming a police burgh with an elected burgh council in 1866.[3][4] As a small burgh, the burgh council had limited powers which included some control over planning as well as local taxation, building control, housing, lighting and drainage with the rest of the local government responsibility falling to the county council.[2]

Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs – which had resulted in a mishmash of local government areas in which some small burghs had larger populations but far fewer responsibilities than some large burghs and even counties[2] – was to be replaced by a new system of regional and district councils. Cumnock Burgh and the surrounding areas including New Cumnock, Mauchline and Dalmellington was to be placed in Cumnock and Doon Valley district within the Strathclyde region.[5]

Results

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1974 Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council election result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 8 N/A 80.0 35.5 1,331 N/A
  Independent Labour 1 N/A 10.0 43.7 1,642 N/A
  Conservative 1 N/A 10.0 20.7 778 N/A
Total 10 3,751

Source:[6]

Ward results

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Cumnock Burgh

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Cumnock Burgh
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour K. McTurk Unopposed
Registered electors 4,651
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Lugar, Logan and Muirkirk

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Lugar, Logan and Muirkirk
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour M. Lochhead Unopposed
Registered electors 3,363
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Old Cumnock Parish

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Old Cumnock Parish
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour T. McIntyre Unopposed
Registered electors 2,426
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Auchinleck

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Auchinleck
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour J. Allan Unopposed
Registered electors 3,436
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Catrine and Sorn

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Catrine and Sorn
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour H. Nisbet Unopposed
Registered electors 2,307
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

New Cumnock

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New Cumnock
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour J. Paterson Unopposed
Registered electors 4,088
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Dalmellington

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Dalmellington
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour R. Hill Unopposed
Registered electors 3,353
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Patna and Dalrymple

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Patna and Dalrymple
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour M. Rooney Unopposed
Registered electors 3,271
Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Drongan, Ochiltree, Rankinston and Stair

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Drongan, Ochiltree, Rankinston and Stair
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Labour J. Hodge 1,642 72.8
Labour W. Brown 614 27.2
Majority 1,028 45.6
Turnout 2,256 57.5
Registered electors 3,952
Independent Labour win (new seat)

Source:[6]

Mauchline

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Mauchline
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative T. Findlay 778 52.0
Labour M. Miller 717 48.0
Majority 61 4.0
Turnout 1,495 49.6
Registered electors 3,029
Conservative win (new seat)

Source:[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  3. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Old Cumnock Old Church (Category B Listed Building) (LB24092)". Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  4. ^ Bark, Stephen (3 July 2017). "Cumnock Community Council mark 150th anniversary of police burgh status". Cumnock Chronicle. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. ^ Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR 20000437.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 3 January 2023.