Ayrshire North and Arran (UK Parliament constituency)

For other things called Ayrshire North and Arran see Ayrshire North and Arran.

Ayrshire North and Arran is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This constituency was created for the 2005 general election from the old Cunninghame North constituency, plus five wards from the the old Cunninghame South constituency. The results of both of these constituencies in the last general election are listed below.

Boundaries

This constinuency extends to, and includes, Skelmorlie in the north, Kilwinning in the south, Beith to the east, and the islands of Arran and Cumbrae to the west.

Profile

The towns of Skelmorlie, Largs, Fairlie and West Kilbride in the north are affluent commuter towns, while Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston and Kilwinning in the south are rather more industrial and beset with relatively high unemployment. However, regeneration is taking place at Ardrossan Harbour and there has been a rapid increase in new build housing in recent years. Inland, the seat takes in the Garnock valley towns of Dalry, Beith and Kilbirnie, once a centre of steel and textile production long since gone. Tourism is the main industry on Arran and Cumbrae, however the number of holiday homes on the latter has begun to squeeze locals out of the housing market. The seat has two nuclear power stations, Hunterston A (currently being decommissioned) and B, as well as a windfarm at Ardrossan.

Member of Parliament

There have been no previous members of parliament for this new constinuency. The previous seat of Cunninghame North, which this constinuency includes, was held by Brian Wilson. Brian Donohoe, who previously held Cunninghame South, is standing for election in Ayrshire Central.

Election results

Note that percentage vote change and percentage swing for the 2005 results are based on notional results on how this constinuency would have performed in the 2001 UK General Election.

Politics and history of the constituency