1950–1974: The burghs of Irvine, Kilwinning, Stewarton and Troon, the districts of Irvine and Kilbirnie, the electoral division of Dundonald in the district of Ayr, and the electoral division of Dunlop and Stewarton in the district of Kilmarnock.[2]
1974–1983: The burghs of Irvine, Kilwinning and Troon, the districts of Irvine and Kilbirnie and the electoral division of Dundonald in the district of Ayr.[3]
The constituency was re-established in
2005, centred around the historic burgh of
Irvine and stretching north to cover part of
Kilwinning and south to cover the coastal resort towns of
Prestwick,
Troon and their adjacent hinterlands alongside part of
Ayr. The constituency covers the 2017 electoral wards of
Irvine East,
Irvine South,
Irvine West and a small section of
Kilwinning (between the
River Garnock and the B778) from the
North Ayrshire Council area and Prestwick, Troon, Kyle and a small section of Ayr North (between Seaforth Road and Lochside Road in
Heathfield) from the
South Ayrshire Council area.[5] The remainder of the North Ayrshire Council area is represented as part of the
North Ayrshire and Arran Parliamentary constituency, with the remainder of South Ayrshire being covered by the
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary constituency alongside parts of
East Ayrshire.
Constituency profile
The constituency covers towns such as
Irvine and parts of
Kilwinning to the north, as well as the coastal resorts of
Troon and
Prestwick to the south. The seat also takes in a set of villages in rural South Ayrshire including the former mining communities of
Annbank,
Mossblown and
Tarbolton alongside the villages of
Loans,
Dundonald and
Symington.
Irvine was designated in the 1970s as a
Glasgow overspill new town. In recent local council elections, the SNP have performed strongly in the town of Irvine gaining 3 Councillors to Labours 5 in Irvine and Kilwinning wards.
The coastal towns of
Prestwick and
Troon join the town as part of the constituency as well as outlying rural areas located south and east of Troon and Prestwick: Prestwick, Troon and their hinterlands have sustained a considerable level of support for Conservative candidates locally and as part of the
Ayr constituency in the Scottish Parliament. Heathfield in
Ayr North also forms part of the constituency: this area is relatively small but has been more supportive of the SNP in recent council elections.
Election history
The seat has mostly elected
Labour Party MPs since the 1950s, with the former MP
Brian Donohoe having represented the seat since its creation in 2005, and was MP for the predecessor seat of
Cunninghame South since the 1992 general election. He lost his seat at the 2015 general election during an SNP landslide in Scotland, in which the
SNP's
Philippa Whitford was elected with a majority of 13,589 votes. At the 2017 local election the Conservatives were well ahead in
Prestwick and
Troon in
South Ayrshire, with the SNP finishing first in
Irvine in
North Ayrshire. Philippa Whitford returned as the Member of Parliament for the Central Ayrshire constituency at the 2017 general election with a significantly reduced majority of 1,267 votes (2.8%) ahead of Conservative challenger Caroline Hollins-Martin.[6] At the 2019 UK election,
Philippa Whitford was returned as Member of Parliament for the third time, increasing her majority to 5,304 votes (11.4%).