Cunninghame South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Cunninghame South (UK Parliament constituency).

Cunninghame South
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Cunninghame South shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	66,047 (2019)
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Ruth Maguire
Council area	North Ayrshire

Cunninghame South (Gaelic: Coineagan a Deas) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of North Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election, and is one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region. The regions elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The seat has been held by Ruth Maguire of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: West Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are: Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West, Renfrewshire South and Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

The region covers part of the Argyll and Bute council area, the East Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, North Ayrshire council area, the Renfrewshire council area and the West Dunbartonshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency is one of two in North Ayrshire, with the rest of the council area being covered by the Cunninghame North constituency.

Cunninghame South was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, using the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005 Scottish constituencies for Westminster (House of Commons) were mostly replaced with new constituencies, causing Westminster and Holyrood constituency to no longer correspond.

Following their First Periodic review into constituencies to the Scottish Parliament in time for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the Boundary Commission for Scotland altered the boundaries of the constituency. The electoral wards used in the current creation of Cunninghame South are:

• In full:
  • Irvine West
  • Irvine East
  • Kilwinning
  • Irvine South
• In part: (shared with Cunninghame North)
  • Stevenston
  • Saltcoats

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Constituency profile

The Cunninghame South constituency occupies the southern portion of the North Ayrshire Council area, covering the towns of Kilwinning, Stevenston and Irvine.

Voting patterns

The area has traditionally been represented by the Labour Party, with Labour continuously representing the Central Ayrshire and Cunninghame South constituencies at the British Parliament from 1959 until 2015 - when the constituency of Central Ayrshire was won by the Scottish National Party on a 27.7% swing from Labour to SNP. In the Scottish Parliament Cunninghame South was represented by the Labour Party from the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until 2011, when the seat was gained by the SNP on a 9.9% swing.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Irene Oldfather	Labour
	2011	Margaret Burgess	SNP
	2016	Ruth Maguire

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Ruth Maguire	15,208	50.5	1.7	13,895	46.0	3.8
	Labour	Louise McPhater	7,256	24.1	6.0	6,352	21.0	3.4
	Conservative	David Rocks	6,621	22.0	6.7	6,620	21.9	6.0
	Scottish Green					1,244	4.1	0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Armstrong	715	2.4	0.0	579	1.9	0.3
	Alba					417	1.4	New
	All for Unity					367	1.2	New
	Independent	Maurice Campbell	318	1.1	New	69	0.2	New
	Scottish Family					160	0.5	New
	Independent Green Voice					150	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					98	0.3	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					60	0.2	New
	Reform UK					53	0.2	New
	UKIP					50	0.2	2.2
	TUSC					46	0.2	New
	Scottish Libertarian					38	0.1	0.0
	Independent	James Morrison				13	0.0	New
	Renew					11	0.0	New
	Scotia Future					6	0.0	New
Majority			7,952	26.4	4.3
Valid Votes			30,118			30,228
Invalid Votes			96			54
Turnout			30,214	58.0	6.6	30,282	58.2	6.7
	SNP hold		Swing

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Ruth Maguire	13,416	52.2	2.4	12,858	49.8	0.3
	Labour	Joe Cullinane	7,723	30.1	9.1	6,308	24.4	11.0
	Conservative	Billy McClure	3,940	15.3	6.8	4,105	15.9	8.0
	Scottish Green					855	3.3	1.4
	UKIP					628	2.4	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ruby Kirkwood	616	2.4	0.1	417	1.6	0.1
	Solidarity					254	1.0	0.8
	Scottish Christian					177	0.7	0.1
	RISE					168	0.7	New
	Scottish Libertarian					30	0.1	New
Majority			5,693	22.1	11.5
Valid Votes			25,695			25,800
Invalid Votes			103			39
Turnout			25,798	51.4	7.9	25,839	51.5	8.0
	SNP hold		Swing

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Margaret Burgess	10,993	49.8	N/A	10,763	49.5	N/A
	Labour	Irene Oldfather	8,645	39.2	N/A	7,197	33.1	N/A
	Conservative	Alistair Haw	1,871	8.5	N/A	1,755	7.9	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					453	2.0	N/A
	Scottish Green					424	1.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ruby Kirkwood	547	2.5	N/A	374	1.7	N/A
	Socialist Labour					257	1.2	N/A
	BNP					238	1.1	N/A
	Scottish Christian					173	0.8	N/A
	UKIP					161	0.7	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					115	0.5	N/A
	Ban Bankers Bonuses					85	0.4	N/A
	Pirate					62	0.3	N/A
	Solidarity					34	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Richard Vassie				17	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,384	10.6	N/A
Valid Votes			22,056			22,108
Invalid Votes			80			67
Turnout			50,926	43.5	N/A	50,926	43.5	N/A
	SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Irene Oldfather	10,270	43.8	−5.2
	SNP	Duncan Ross	8,102	34.6	+12.2
	Conservative	Pat McPhee	3,073	13.1	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Dale	1,977	8.4	+1.8
Majority			2,168	9.2	−17.6
Turnout			23,422	46.9	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Irene Oldfather	11,165	49.0	−3.8
	SNP	Mike Russell	5,089	22.4	−7.3
	Scottish Socialist	Rosemary Byrne	2,677	11.8	New
	Conservative	Andrew Brocklehurst	2,336	10.3	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Dale	1,505	6.6	+0.5
Majority			6,076	26.6	+3.5
Turnout			22,772	45.7	−10.4
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Cunninghame South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Irene Oldfather	14,936	52.8	N/A
	SNP	Mike Russell	8,395	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	Murray Tosh	3,229	11.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Ritchie	1,717	6.1	N/A
Majority			6,541	23.1	N/A
Turnout			28,277	56.1	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

External links

• "Cunninghame South constituency map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 7 July 2021.