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Local Politics
Wemyss Bay is part of the Inverclyde constituency
for the Westminster Parliament, and part of the Greenock & Inverclyde
constituency for the Scottish Parliament.
MP Cairns | MSP
McNeil | Regional MSPs
Councillors | European MEPs for Scotland
MP David Cairns
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David Cairns of the Labour
Party is MP for our constituency.
Web site:
- Personal
web site
Contact details:
-
- Address/telephone numbers
Election results:
- 2005 General Election
- 2001 General Election
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David Cairns, MP for Inverclyde
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The number of constituencies in Scotland
was reduced from 72 to 59 at the 2005 election. This meant that
various constituencies in Scotland were altered to allow for
this reduction. The constituency for Wemss Bay changed from 'Greenock
and Inverclyde' to just 'Inverclyde'.
At the 2005 election, David Cairns was once again elected as
MP for the area. He gave us the following comments following
his victory:
"Being elected to represent the new
constituency of Inverclyde is the greatest honour of my life.
I want to thank everyone who voted for me, particularly in
the village of Wemyss Bay, and I promise that I will continue
to make the interests of villagers one of my top priorities.
"I want to be the Member of Parliament
for everyone in Inverclyde, including those who did not vote
for me, and I hope that I can be of service to the entire community
of Inverclyde.
"Employment is an important issue
for us here in Inverclyde and one of the first things I want
to do is clarify the position on the threatened job losses
at IBM and Ferguson's. There's a huge amount to be done in
the new constituency and I'm really looking forward to the
challenge of representing the whole of Inverclyde."
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UK General Election
5th May, 2005
Results for Inverclyde |
| Candidate |
Party |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
| David Cairns |
LAB |
18,318 |
50.7 |
+0.5 |
| Stuart McMillan |
SNP |
7,059 |
19.6 |
+5.6 |
| Douglas Herbison |
LD |
6,123 |
17.0 |
-4.2 |
| Gordon Fraser |
CON |
3,692 |
10.2 |
-0.6 |
| Davy Landels |
SSP |
906 |
2.5 |
-1.3 |
| Notes |
| Labour majority: |
11,259 (31.2%) |
| Swing: |
2.5% LAB to SNP |
| Electorate: |
59,291 |
| Turnout: |
36,098 |
| 60.9%, up 1.4% |
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UK General Election
5th May, 2005
Results for Scotland |
| Party |
Seats 2005 |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
Seats 2001 |
| LAB |
41 |
922,397 |
39.5 |
-4.5 |
56 |
| LD |
11 |
528,076 |
22.6 |
+6.3 |
10 |
| SNP |
6 |
412,267 |
17.7 |
-2.4 |
5 |
| CON |
1 |
369,388 |
15.8 |
+0.2 |
1 |
| OTH |
0 |
101,754
(approx) |
4.4 |
|
0 |
| Notes |
| Labour maj: |
394,321 (16.9%) |
| Swing: |
5.4% from LAB to
LD |
| Electorate: |
3,851,290 (approx) |
| Turnout: |
2,333,882 |
| 60.6%, up 2.7% |
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Links:
Full
General Election 2005 results from the BBC
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The MP elected in 1997 was Dr. Norman Godman who decided to retire
at the 2001 general election in June. Five candidates sought
to take his place but it was David Cairns who was the clear
winner with a majority of 9,890.
Following his victory in the 2001 election,
David told wemyssbay.net, "I
feel deeply priviledged to be elected as the first ever local
person to represent Greenock and Inverclyde. I am well aware
that Wemyss Bay has its own special needs and concerns, and I
fully intend to play an active part in the life of the community.
To those who voted for me may I say thank-you. To those who did
not, I would like to say that I want to represent you as well,
to the very best of my ability."
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General Election
7th June, 2001
Greenock and Inverclyde |
| David Cairns (Labour) |
14,929 |
| Chic Brodie (Lib Dem) |
5,039 |
| Andy Murie (SNP) |
4,248 |
| Alistair Haw (Con) |
3,000 |
| David Landels (SSP) |
1,203 |
Labour majority 9,890
(34.80%).
Swing 3.77% Lab to Lib-Dem.
Spoiled papers 53.
Electorate 47,884.
Turnout 28,419 (59.35%, down 11.70%). |
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General
Election
1st May, 1997
Greenock & Inverclyde |
| Norman Godman (Labour) |
19,480 |
| Brian Goodall (SNP) |
6,440 |
| Rod Ackland (Lib Dem) |
4,791 |
| Hugo Swire (Conservative) |
3,976 |
Labour majority 13,040
(37.59%).
Spoiled papers 32.
Electorate approx. 48,821.
Turnout 34,687 (71.05%). |
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MSP Duncan McNeil
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The MSP for the constituency
is Duncan McNeil of the Labour Party who
was re-elected at the 2007 election after first being elected
in 1999 at the start of the Scottish Parliament.
Web sites:
- Scottish
Parliament web site
- Official
web site
Contact details:
-
- Address/telephone numbers
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Scottish election
results
3rd May, 2007
Greenock & Inverclyde |
| Candidate |
Party |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
| Duncan McNeil |
LAB |
10,035 |
43.4 |
+2.7 |
| Stuart McMillan |
SNP |
7,011 |
30.3 |
+15.4 |
| Ross Finnie |
LD |
3,893 |
16.8 |
-11.2 |
| Charles Ferguson |
CON |
2,166 |
9.4 |
+2.8 |
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The majority for Duncan McNeil was 3024 (13.1%).
There was a swing of 6.4% from LAB to SNP. The turnout was 23,105. This is 51.75% of the electorate
of 44,646 and is up 0.1% on the 2003 election.
Link: 2007
election results from BBC |
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Scottish election results
1st May, 2003
Greenock & Inverclyde |
| Candidate |
Party |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
| Duncan McNeil |
LAB |
9674 |
40.7 |
-0.6 |
| Ross Finnie |
LD |
6665 |
28.0 |
+1.8 |
| Tom Chalmers |
SNP |
3532 |
14.9 |
-8.8 |
| Tricia McCafferty |
SSP |
2338 |
9.8 |
+6.8 |
| Michael Dunlop |
CON |
1572 |
6.6 |
+0.7 |
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The majority for Duncan McNeil was 3009 (12.7%).
The turnout was 23781. This is 51.65% of the electorate of 46,045
and is down 7.3% on the 1999 election.
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Scottish election
results
6th May, 1999
Greenock & Inverclyde |
| Candidate |
Party |
Votes |
% |
| Duncan McNeil |
LAB |
11817 |
41.3 |
| Ross Finnie |
LD |
7504 |
26.2 |
| Iain Hamilton QC |
SNP |
6762 |
23.6 |
| Richard Wilkinson |
CON |
1699 |
5.9 |
| David Landels |
SSP |
857 |
3.0 |
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David Cairns and Duncan McNeil
have a joint office in Greenock. Their address and contact numbers
are:
Address:
The Parliamentary Office
20 Union Street
Greenock
Inverclyde PA16 8JL |
Telephone/Fax numbers:
Telephone: 01475 791820
Fax: 01475 791821
Textphone: 01475 791 824 |
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Regional MSPs
Greenock and Inverclyde is part of the
West of Scotland region and the regional MSPs, elected in the 2007 election
on May 3rd, are:
| MSP |
Party |
Web |
Email |
| Stuart McMillan |
SNP |
Web |
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| Stewart Maxwell |
SNP |
Web |
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| Bill Wilson |
SNP |
Web |
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| Gil Paterson |
SNP |
Web |
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| Annabel Goldie |
Conservative |
Web |
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| Jackson Carlaw |
Conservative |
Web |
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| Ross Finnie |
Liberal Democrats |
Web |
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The results for the region were as follows:
| Party |
Seats |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
| LAB |
0 |
91,725 |
34.2 |
+1.6 |
| SNP |
4 |
75,953 |
28.3 |
+8.7 |
| CON |
2 |
40,637 |
15.2 |
-0.5 |
| LD |
1 |
22,515 |
8.4 |
-3.9 |
| GRN |
0 |
8,152 |
3.0 |
-2.6 |
| SSCU |
0 |
5,231 |
2.0 |
-0.8 |
| SOL |
0 |
4,774 |
1.8 |
+1.8 |
| SCHP |
0 |
3,729 |
1.4 |
+1.4 |
| BNP |
0 |
3,241 |
1.2 |
+1.2 |
| CPA |
0 |
3,027 |
1.1 |
+1.1 |
| SNHS |
0 |
2,682 |
1.0 |
+1.0 |
| SLP |
0 |
1,557 |
0.6 |
-0.6 |
| SSP |
0 |
1,716 |
0.6 |
-6.6 |
| SUP |
0 |
1,245 |
0.5 |
-0.2 |
| UKIP |
0 |
888 |
0.3 |
-0.3 |
| SV |
0 |
522 |
0.2 |
+0.2 |
| SJP |
0 |
446 |
0.2 |
+0.2 |
| SEP |
0 |
139 |
0.0 |
+0.0 |
| See key at bottom for full party names. |
| Turnout: 268,179
(56.45%) |
2003 Results
The regional MSPs, elected in the 2003 election, are:
| MSP |
Party |
| Annabel Goldie |
Conservative |
| Murray Tosh |
Conservative |
| Campbell Martin |
Independent
(formerly SNP) |
| Ross Finnie |
Liberal Democrats |
| Bruce McFee |
SNP |
| Stewart Maxwell |
SNP |
| Frances Curran |
Scottish Socialist Party |
The results for the region were as follows:
| Party |
Seats |
Votes |
% |
+/-% |
| LAB |
0 |
83931 |
32.6 |
-35.2 |
| SNP |
3 |
50387 |
19.6 |
-24.5 |
| CON |
2 |
40261 |
15.7 |
-7.9 |
| LD |
1 |
31580 |
12.3 |
-7.9 |
| SSP |
1 |
18591 |
7.2 |
+0.2 |
| GRN |
0 |
14544 |
5.7 |
+1.5 |
| SSCU |
0 |
7100 |
2.8 |
+0.7 |
| PLP |
0 |
3674 |
1.4 |
+0.4 |
| SLP |
0 |
3155 |
1.2 |
-0.1 |
| UKIP |
0 |
1662 |
0.6 |
+0.2 |
| SUP |
0 |
1617 |
0.6 |
+0.2 |
| SPA |
0 |
674 |
0.3 |
+0.1 |
| See key at bottom for full party
names. |
The turnout was 257176, just
over 50% of the electorate.
The regional MSPs elected after the
1999 election were:
- Colin Campbell (SNP)
- Fiona McLeod (SNP)
- Mr Lloyd Quinan (SNP)
- Mrs Kay Ullrich (SNP)
- Miss Annabel Goldie (Conservative)
- John Young (Conservative)
- Ross Finnie (Lib Dems)
Councillors - Inverclyde South West
The
councillors for Wemyss Bay after the 2007 election on the 3rd May are Gerry
Dorrian of the Labour Party, Ken Ferguson of the Scottish National Party
(SNP) and Ciano Rebecchi of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
Contact Details:
Gerry Dorrian
Labour
Email:
Tel: 07946 458833 |
Ken Ferguson
SNP
Email:
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Ciano Rebecchi
Liberal Democrats
Email:
Tel: 01475 786628 (home)
01475 634123 (business)
07747 006732 (mobile) |
Councillors can also be contacted through
Inverclyde Council:
Inverclyde Council,
Municipal Buildings,
Clyde Square,
Greenock
PA15 1LY.
Tel: 01475 712020.
Fax: 01475 712010.
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2007 Council Election Results
After the 2007 election, the Labour party had the most
councillors in Inverclyde Council with 9 councillors. The SNP came from nowhere
to go into second place with 5 councillors while the Liberal Democrats were
reduced dramatically in numbers to just 4 councillors. The Conservative party
have 1 councillor and Independent candidate Ronnie Ahlfeld was also elected
to represent Inverclyde West (Ward 5).
Ward 6: Inverclyde South West
results - May 3rd 2007
| Candidates elected |
Party |
Stage Elected |
| Gerry Dorrian |
Labour |
5 |
| Ken Ferguson |
SNP |
5 |
| Ciano Rebecchi |
Lib Dems |
8 |
| Candidates not elected |
Party |
| Peter Campbell |
UKIP Scotland |
| Eric Forbes |
Lib Dems |
| Alex McGhee |
Labour |
| Innes Nelson |
Independent |
| Harry Denis Osborn |
Conservative |
Total number of votes cast: 4,157
Turnout: 52.21%
Rejected ballots: 58
Quota: 1,040 |
The results for Inverclyde Council in
full for 2007 were as follows:
| Party |
2007 |
2003 |
Change |
| Labour |
9 |
6 |
+3 |
| SNP |
5 |
0 |
+5 |
| Liberal Democrats |
4 |
13 |
-9 |
| Conservative |
1 |
0 |
+1 |
| Independents* |
1 |
1 |
0 |
*Please note that the 1 independent councillor elected in
2003, Michael McCormick, who represented the Ladyburn and Bridgend ward after
the 2003 election, announced he was joining the Labour party in June 2006,
giving them a total of 7 councillors. Source: Scottish
Labour website
Ward Changes from 2007
From the 2007 election, Wemyss Bay is
now part of the Inverclyde South West ward (Ward 6). Inverclyde
Council was previously split into 20 wards but important changes have been
introduced
from the 2007 election. The number of wards within Inverclyde was reduced
from 20 to 6. These wards will be known as 'multi-member' wards
because there will be 3 or 4 councillors representing each ward, instead
of just 1.
All of the 3 or 4 councillors serving in the same ward
are elected on an equal level with no one of the councillors having seniority
over the others. You can contact any of the councillors representing your ward
if you wish to raise an issue with them.
Single Transferable Vote (STV) system (from 2007)
A new voting system was also introduced at the 2007 election.
Instead of selecting a single candidate with an X, voters are asked to rank
candidates within the ward in order of preference, using a 1, 2, 3 etc.
If
your first choice has already won enough votes to be elected, or if they
are eliminated by having the least number of votes, then your vote
is transferred
to your second choice and potentially onto your third choice etc until all
three or four candidates have been elected, depending on how many councillors
are to represent your ward.
2003 Results
 The
councillor for Wemyss Bay (Ward 20) after the 2003 election was Eric
Forbes, a Liberal Democrat and a resident of Wemyss Bay.
He succeeded
the
former rector of Greenock Academy, Robert Campbell, who also represented
the Liberal Democrats. At the 2003 election, the Liberal Democrats
won overall control of Inverclyde Council with 13 councillors.
The results
in the 2003 election on May 1st were as follows:
| Candidate |
Party |
Votes |
| Eric Forbes |
Liberal Democrats |
1115 |
| William Gallacher |
Labour |
475 |
| Iain Ramsay |
SNP |
305 |
| William Carrick |
Conservative |
143 |
| Liberal Democrats majority 640. |
The results for Inverclyde Council in full for 2003 were as follows:
| Party |
2003 |
Previous |
Change |
| Liberal Democrats |
13 |
9 |
4 |
| Labour |
6 |
10 |
-4 |
| Independents |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Conservative |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
European Parliament: Scotland
For the purposes of the European Parliament Scotland
is seen as one large constituency. Scotland is represented by 7 MEPs.
Parties win a number of MEPs equal to their share of the vote in each
region.
The Scottish results
in the 2004 election on June 10th were:
| PARTY |
VOTE |
MEPs |
| |
% |
+/- % |
# of votes |
TOTAL |
| LAB |
26.4 |
-2.3 |
310865 |
2 |
| SNP |
19.7 |
-7.5 |
231505 |
2 |
| CON |
17.8 |
-2.0 |
209028 |
2 |
| LD |
13.1 |
3.3 |
154178 |
1 |
| GRN |
6.8 |
1.0 |
79695 |
0 |
| UKIP |
6.7 |
5.4 |
78828 |
0 |
| SSP |
5.2 |
1.2 |
61356 |
0 |
| OPV |
1.8 |
1.8 |
21056 |
0 |
| BNP |
1.7 |
1.3 |
19427 |
0 |
| SWW |
0.6 |
0.6 |
7255 |
0 |
| IND - Tait |
0.3 |
0.3 |
3624 |
0 |
| See key
at bottom for full party names. |
SEATS: 7
TURNOUT: 30.9%
ELECTORATE: 3,877,194 |
The MEPs elected to represent Scotland are:
| Candidate |
Party |
| David Martin |
LAB |
| Catherine Stihler |
LAB |
| Ian Hudghton |
SNP |
| Alyn Smith |
SNP |
| John Purvis |
CON |
| Struan Stevenson |
CON |
| Elspeth Attwooll |
LD |
| See key
at bottom for full party names. |
The UK results in the 2004 election on June 10th were:
| PARTY |
VOTE |
MEPs |
| |
% |
+/- % |
TOTAL |
| CON |
26.7 |
-9.0 |
27 |
| LAB |
22.6 |
-5.4 |
19 |
| UKIP |
16.1 |
9.2 |
12 |
| LD |
14.9 |
2.3 |
12 |
| GRN |
6.3 |
0.0 |
2 |
| BNP |
4.9 |
3.9 |
0 |
| RESP |
1.5 |
1.5 |
0 |
| SNP |
1.4 |
-1.3 |
2 |
| PC |
1.0 |
-0.9 |
1 |
| SSP |
0.4 |
0.0 |
0 |
| OTH |
4.6 |
3.2 |
3 |
| See key
at bottom for full party names. |
SEATS: 78
TURNOUT: 38.2%
ELECTORATE: 44,118,453 |
Further information about the European
Elections can be found at the following web sites:
About My Vote:
BBC web site:
Europe Counts - Official 2004 European
Elections Website:
"If you don't do politics, there's not much you do do."
KEY:
BNP - British National Party
CON - Conservative
GRN - Greens
IND - Independent
LAB - Labour
LD - Liberal Democrats
OPV - Operation Christian Vote
PC - Plaid Cymru
PLP - Pro Life Party
RESP - Respect - The Unity Coalition
SLP - Socialist Labour Party
SNP - Scottish National Party
SPA - Scottish People's Alliance
SSCU - Scottish Senior Citizens Unity
SSP - Scottish Socialist Party
SUP - Scottish Unionist Party
SWW - Scottish Wind Watch
UKIP - UK Independence Party
OTH - Other!
MEP - Member of European Parliament
Party abbreviations for 2007 Scottish
elections from BBC
web site:
ASJH: Action to Save St John's Hospital ATP: Anti-Trident
Party
CON: Conservative Party
CPA: Christian People's Alliancey
CPB: Communist Party of Britain
EPA: Equal Parenting Alliance
FSP: Free Scotland Party
GRN: Green Party
HEP: Had Enough Party
IGV: Independent Green Voice
LAB: Labour Party
LD: Liberal Democrats
NPG: Nine Percent Growth Party
PEAP: Peace Party Non-violence, Justice, Environment
PUB: The Publican Party
SACL: Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers
SCHP: Scottish Christian Party
SENT: Scottish Enterprise Party
SEP: Socialist Equality Party
SJP: Scottish Jacobite Party
SLP: Socialist Labour Party
SNHS: Save Our NHS Group
SNP: Scottish National Party
SOL: Solidarity
SSCU: Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party
SSP: Scottish Socialist Party
SUP: Scottish Unionist Party
SV: Scottish Voice
UKIP: UK Independence Party
WIT: Adam Lyal's Witchery Tour Party
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