THE SNP group in East Ayrshire are confident they can take control of the council and “build on the success” of their first term in administration.
Fielding 17 candidates, the party is the only one which is in a position to clinch a majority at next month’s poll. But with 32 seats up for grabs, the SNP will need every single candidate to win in order to secure overall power in the chamber.
The local elections use the single transferable vote (STV) system, which is a form of proportional representation that deliberately makes it tricky for anyone to form a majority government. However, council leader and SNP candidate Douglas Reid still believes it is a goal within his group’s grasp.
He told The National: “We seem to be the only group that is going out to take control of the council and I think we can do that.
“We want to try and just build on the success of what we’ve done so far in administration, and I would like to think we can at least return the 13 seats we already have, but I do think there are opportunities for us to pick up more,” he continued.
“We narrowly lost out on getting another seat in Kilmarnock North last time, so I think that’s achievable.
“We’ve also got two great candidates in Annick in Wendy Hannah and Stephen Canning, and I think we can pick up a seat there.
“We have done great things with the school estate, getting all our schools to A and B level, and we oversaw bringing Cumnock and Auchinleck academies together [to create the Barony Campus].”
He added: “We have delivered the extended 1140 nursery hours, and we’ve done a lot of work with community asset transfers during the term.”
Winning 14 seats in the last election, the SNP formed a minority administration in 2017. Labour are the second biggest party, with nine elected members, and the Conservatives have six. There are also two Independents and one member of the Rubbish Party.
Up until 2007, East Ayrshire was a Labour-run council, before the SNP and Tory groups formed a coalition for a few years. The SNP then went on to become the ruling party five years ago.
But despite coming into sole control for the first time, it has not been plain sailing for the SNP group. Earlier this month, councillor John Bell quit the party, and is now running as an independent candidate for Doon Valley.
He claimed the SNP at national level have “drifted to the right” under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership – and said councils were not getting enough funding from Holyrood.
Last year, popular SNP provost Jim Todd was also ousted in a coup staged by Labour and the Tories. He was known as the Rock ‘n’ Roll provost, and lost the chain in a knife-edge vote last June, after first being elected to the role in 2013.
READ MORE: South Ayrshire council election: Hopes partygate will hit Tory vote
SNP depute provost Claire Leitch also lost her role with the position going to Sally Cogley of the Rubbish Party. Councillor Reid, who represents Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse, added: “We, as a group, agreed to part with John and it was all very amicable.
“We’ve got a great candidate in Jennifer Hogg in Doon Valley and we’re confident she can win a seat there.
“It was an extremely tight vote when Barry Douglas from Labour became the Provost.
“We believe we are still a very strong group and we are looking to do more with the council as we continue our recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to try and help people facing poverty, as there are too many people in a heat or eat situation, and we want to have a focus on well-being as East Ayrshire is not the best when it comes to public health.”
East Ayrshire is the 16th most populous authority in Scotland, with the council’s headquarters based in the main town of Kilmarnock.
Other large areas within the county include the second-largest town of Cumnock alongside Stewarton, Darvel and Hurlford, with Cumnock home to the largest school in Scotland, the Robert Burns Academy.
Historically the local economy was largely dependent on industries like coal mining, textiles and manufacturing, which fell into decline in the 1970s and 1980s. Certain communities have struggled to recover from this economic loss completely, such as the village of Auchinleck and the town of Dalmellington.
Kilmarnock has also seen a gradual decline in manufacturing performance since the closure of the Diageo Johnnie Walker bottling plant in 2012. The move was a huge blow to the local community, and led to the loss of 700 jobs.
Despite this, the area is proud of its thriving tourism scene. Attractions such as the Palace Theatre and Dean Castle bring in large sums of money for the area. In rural areas, agriculture continues to be a leading source of employment and financial income.
Labour group leader John McGhee, who is a candidate in the Annick ward, said there were a number of local issues his team were looking to focus on – including the ongoing issues in Kilmarnock around the Local Development Plan (LDP).
A couple of years ago, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) identified areas of ground earmarked for development as being at risk of flooding, with particular reference made to areas around Kilmarnock.
At the time, Reid commented that “the viability of our town centres is being threatened”.
Labour have fielded a team of 11 candidates and McGhee is hoping they can all secure a seat.
He said: “I think the cost-of-living crisis is a big issue on the doorsteps. Yes, it’s more of a national issue, but it is something that comes up.
“Littering and dog fouling are always being brought up as problems,” he added.
“Housing is also a big one. Some communities feel they have got too many homes without proper infrastructure. Stewarton is a good example of somewhere that’s grown a lot over the years, and there’s problems with local GP services, and how you get from Stewarton to the motorway, for example.
“With regards to roads, I’d say the issues are now more in housing estates schemes really, as we’ve done quite well with improving the A and B roads. There is always work to be done here.
“In Kilmarnock, there’s a lot of talk about the flooding issues raised by Sepa and how that’s affecting the LDP,” he added.
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