Central Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Central Ayrshire is a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

of the British House of Commons, located in the south-west of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

within the North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...

and South Ayrshire

South Ayrshire

South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....

council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post

First-past-the-post

First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

system of voting.

The seat and its predecessor seats have mostly belonged to the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

since the 1950s, with the current MP Brian Donohoe

Brian Donohoe

Brian Harold Donohoe is a British Labour Party politician and former trade union official, who has been the Member of Parliament for Central Ayrshire since 2005, and was first elected in 1992.-Early life:...

having represented the seat since its creation in 2005, and was MP for the predecessor seat of Cunninghame South

Cunninghame South (UK Parliament constituency)

Cunninghame South was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. It was represented by one Member of Parliament elected by the first-past-the-post system of election....

since 1992. Labour currently has a large majority of over 12,000, making for a safe

Safe seat

A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

Labour seat.

A diverse seat, it contains the more working class towns of Irvine

Irvine, North Ayrshire

Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....

and Kyle

Kyle, Ayrshire

Kyle is a former comital district of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire...

to the north, as well as the more affluent towns of Troon

Troon

Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...

and Prestwick

Prestwick

Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...

to the south.

Boundaries

This new constituency is centred on the historic burgh of Irvine, designated in the 1970s as a Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

overspill new town. Prestwick

Prestwick

Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...

, site of the airport, and Troon

Troon

on the coast are also included. The seat extends to the east and south up against the suburbs of Ayr

Ayr

Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

.

As created in 1950 the constituency merged together parts of Bute and Northern Ayrshire

Bute and Northern Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Bute and Northern Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.-History:...

and Kilmarnock (UK Parliament constituency)

Kilmarnock (UK Parliament constituency)

Kilmarnock was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

. Following the Representation of the People Act 1948

Representation of the People Act 1948

The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections...

the Central Ayrshire constituency between 1950 and 1955 consisted of Irvine

Irvine, North Ayrshire

, Kilwinning

Kilwinning

Kilwinning is a historic town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is known as The Crossroads of Ayrshire. The 2001 Census recorded it as having a population of 15,908.-History:...

, Stewarton

Stewarton

Stewarton is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In comparison to the neighbouring towns of Kilmaurs, Fenwick, Dunlop and Lugton, it is a relatively large town, with a population of over 6,500. It is 300 feet above sea level.Groome, Francis H. . Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Pub. Caxton. London....

, Troon

Troon

, Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie is a small town of 7280 inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland...

and part of the district of Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...

.

When abolished in 1983 the constituency was largely replaced by Cunninghame South

Cunninghame South (UK Parliament constituency)

.

From the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the constituency is made from electoral wards in their entirely and shared by neighbouring seats. Those wards are Kilwinning, Irvine West, Irvine East, Kyle, Troon

Troon

, Prestwick

Prestwick

Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...

, and the extreme northern element of Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton electoral ward covering the stretch of the B744 from Belston to Annbank

Annbank

Annbank is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is around 5 miles east of Ayr. Originally a mining settlement, it once had a rail link to Ayr....

and the Auchincruive Agricultural College.

MPs 1950-1983

Election		Member	Party
	1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...	Archie Manuel	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...	Douglas Spencer-Nairn Douglas Spencer-Nairn Sir Douglas Leslie Spencer Spencer-Nairn, 2nd Baronet was a Unionist politician in Scotland.In 1955, he was elected Member of Parliament for Central Ayrshire, defeating the Labour incumbent Archie Manuel. Spencer-Nairn held the seat until 1959, when it was regained by Manuel against the national...	Unionist
	1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959 This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...	Archie Manuel	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...	David Lambie David Lambie David Lambie is a former Scottish Labour Party politician.Lambie was educated at Ardrossan Academy and at Glasgow University and Geneva University. He became a teacher and was chairman of the Scottish Labour Party 1965-66....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...		constituency abolished: see Cunninghame South Cunninghame South (UK Parliament constituency) Cunninghame South was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. It was represented by one Member of Parliament elected by the first-past-the-post system of election....

MPs 2005-present

Election		Member	Party
	2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....	Brian Donohoe Brian Donohoe Brian Harold Donohoe is a British Labour Party politician and former trade union official, who has been the Member of Parliament for Central Ayrshire since 2005, and was first elected in 1992.-Early life:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1950s

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