Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley in Scotland for the 1997 general election.
1983–2005
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Central Ayrshire Kilmarnock & Loudoun
Created from	Ayr and South Ayrshire[1]

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. Half of the constituency was incorporated into the new Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency, with the remainder incorporated into the new Central Ayrshire constituency and the expanded Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Boundaries

The Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency was created as part of the Third Periodical Review of Parliamentary constituencies in 1983. It was a direct successor to the former South Ayrshire constituency which covered the modern electoral wards of Doon Valley, Cumnock & New Cumnock, Ballochmyle, Girvan & South Carrick and Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton alongside Annbank which forms part of the Kyle electoral ward.^[2] The new constituency stretched across the former South Ayrshire constituency whilst also incorporating the suburb of Castlehill in Ayr and a large, unpopulated section of Prestwick, east of Prestwick airport.^[3]

Significant boundary change took place as part of the Fourth Periodical Review in time for the 1997 General Election. Large swathes of the Ayr constituency were transferred to the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency, altering the demographic of both seats. The Conservative-voting suburbs of Alloway, Doonfoot, Masonhill and Holmston were incorporated into Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley alongside the council estates of Kincaidston, south Belmont and part of Forehill. The east section of Prestwick which was previously contained within Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley was transferred back to Ayr.^[4]

For the 2005 General Election the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency was divided into three constituencies, with Mossblown, Annbank and St. Quivox forming part of the Central Ayrshire constituency alongside Irvine, Kyle, Prestwick, Troon and part of Ayr (Heathfield) and Kilwinning.^[5] The Ballochmyle electoral ward was added to the Kilmarnock and Loudoun^[6] whilst the remainder of the constituency was joined to the Labour-Conservative marginal town of Ayr to form the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock seat.^[7] These boundaries currently remain in place today.

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [8]	Party
	1983	George Foulkes	Labour Co-operative
	1987
	1992
	1992
	2001
	2005	constituency abolished

Elections of the 1980s

General Election 1983: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	George Foulkes	21,394	51.5	N/A
	Conservative	James McInnes	10,024	24.1	N/A
	Social Democratic	Robert Logan	7,421	17.9	N/A
	SNP	Ron Wyllie	2,694	6.5	N/A
Majority			11,370	27.4	N/A
Turnout			41,533	74.3	N/A
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

General Election 1987: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	George Foulkes	25,669	60.1	+8.6
	Conservative	Struan Stevenson	8,867	20.7	−3.4
	Social Democratic	Mrs. Maryum Ali	4,106	9.6	−8.3
	SNP	Charles Duncan Calman	4,094	9.6	+3.1
Majority			16,802	39.3
Turnout			42,736	75.8	+1.5
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+6.0

Elections of the 1990s

General Election 1992: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	George Foulkes	25,142	59.1	−1.0
	Conservative	James A.D. Boswell	8,516	20.0	−0.7
	SNP	Charles E. Douglas	6,910	16.2	+6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. Mary C. Paris	2,005	4.7	−4.9
Majority			16,626	39.1
Turnout			42,573	76.9	+1.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−0.2

General Election 1997: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	George Foulkes	29,398	59.8	+5.8
	Conservative	Alistair J. Marshall	8,336	17.0	−8.7
	SNP	Mrs. Christine Hutchison	8,190	16.7	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Derek G. Young	2,613	5.3	+0.1
	Referendum	John K. Higgins	634	1.3	N/A
Majority			21,062	42.8
Turnout			49,171	75.0	−1.9
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections of the 2000s

General Election 2001: Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	George Foulkes	22,174	55.3	−4.5
	Conservative	Gordon Forsyth Millar	7,318	18.2	+1.3
	SNP	Tom Wilson	6,258	15.6	−1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Miss Rebecca Amy Rodger	2,932	7.3	+2.0
	Scottish Socialist	Ms. Amanda Jane McFarlane	1,058	2.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour	James McDaid	367	0.9	N/A
Majority			14,856	37.1
Turnout			40,107	61.8	−13.2
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

References

1. "'Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
2. 'Second Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1969) South Ayrshire county constituency'
3. 'Third Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1983 - 1997) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley county constituency'
4. 'Fourth Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (1997-2005) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley county constituency'
5. 'Boundary Commission for Scotland UK Parliament 2005 onwards Central Ayrshire county constituency'
6. http://www.bcomm-scotland.independent.gov.uk/includes/downloadfile.asp?file=/maps/westminster/2005/kilmarnock_and_loudoun.pdf[]
7. 'Boundary Commission for Scotland First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Recommended Scottish Parliament constituencies Ayr County Constituency'
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)