2017 East Ayrshire Council election

2017 East Ayrshire Council election

← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →
All 32 seats to East Ayrshire Council 17 seats needed for a majority
Registered	94,375
Turnout	44.9%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Douglas Reid Maureen McKay Tom Cook Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader's seat Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse Kilmarnock North Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse Last election 15 seats, 39.5% 14 seats, 41.4% 2 seats, 12.8% Seats before 15 14 2 Seats won 14 9 6 Seat change 1 5 4 Popular vote 16,023 10,456 10,066 Percentage 38.5% 25.2% 24.2% Swing 1.0% 16.2% 12.9%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Sally Cogley N/A Party Rubbish Independent Leader's seat Irvine Valley N/A Last election N/A 1 seat, 7.6% Seats before 0 1 Seats won 1 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 784 3,347 Percentage 1.9% 8.9% Swing New 1.3%
The 9 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Douglas Reid (SNP) No overall control Council Leader after election Douglas Reid (SNP) No overall control

Elections to East Ayrshire Council took place on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the second consecutive election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party with 14 seats but remained shy of an overall majority. Labour lost further ground but were again returned as the second-largest party with nine seats. The Conservatives made several gains to return six councillors while The Rubbish Party – standing in their first election – won their first seat. Two independent candidates were also elected.

The SNP took over control of the council as a minority administration having previously run the council in coalition with the Conservatives following the previous election in 2012.