Dalmellington (ward)

Dalmellington
East Ayrshire
Electorate3,051 (2003)
Major settlementsDalmellington
Scottish Parliament constituencyCarrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
Scottish Parliament regionSouth Scotland
UK Parliament constituencyAyr, Carrick and Cumnock
1974 (1974)–2007 (2007)
Number of councillors1
Replaced byDoon Valley
Cumnock and New Cumnock

Dalmellington was one of 32 electoral wards of East Ayrshire Council. Originally created in 1974, the ward was initially within Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council before the local government reforms in the 1990s. The ward elected one councillor using the first-past-the-post voting electoral system.

The ward was a Labour stronghold as the party successfully held the seat at every election after gaining it from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1992 until it was abolished. In 1988, Dalmelington was the only ward in Scotland won by the newly formed SDP – a breakaway party from the Social and Liberal Democrats which was formed by a merger of the original Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party.

In 2007, the ward was abolished and replaced by the multi-member Doon Valley ward as council elections moved to a proportional voting system – the single transferable vote – following the implementation of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.