Sandra Osborne

Labour Party | Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock

Recounting Ayr: Labour's History In The Town Of Ayr

Today the town of Ayr is represented by Labour both locally and nationally but it hasn't always been this way. The Parliamentary Constituency containing Ayr has undergone boundary changes over the years but was always represented by a Tory MP until the General Election of 1997.

Several Labour candidates for Ayr went on to serve as Labour MPs for other constituencies - Jim Craigen, Alex Eadie and Willie Ross - but none of them ever managed to secure victory in the illusive Ayr seat. However, we did manage to make real inroads into the natural Tory majority. Both the late Willie Ross and the late Charles O'Halloran came close enough to merit recounts.

A Real Marginal

It was not until the 1987 General Election that Ayr Constituency established itself as Scotland’s most marginal seat. After a hard fought campaign, Labour's Keith Macdonald, who was standing for the third time, came within 182 votes of unseating the Tory Cabinet Minister, George Younger after a recount. Again in 1992, Alastair Osborne (my husband) came even closer, losing to Phil Gallie by only 85 votes after two recounts.

During these hard years of failing to win the parliamentary seat, Labour did have some success. Alex Smith won the European seat for the South of Scotland (including Ayr) and based himself in the Labour Offices in Ayr. In local elections control of the council swung back and forth from Tory to Labour, often by the smallest of margins. However, in 1995 Labour swept the boards in the election for the new unitary South Ayrshire Council, winning 22 seats to 3 for the Tories. In the most recent elections of 2003 it was back to knife edge results with Labour and the Tories tied at 15 seats each - control staying with Labour on the cut of a pack of cards (Labour cut an eight to the Tories' two). In a final bizarre twist, the Labour leader has since resigned and the Tories seized power before a byelection could be held. When it was, an independent won the seat by a single vote!

First ever Labour MP

When victory finally came in the Westminster Elections it was overwhelming. Boundary changes taking a small part of the town of Ayr into the neighbouring constituency had left Labour with a notional advantage of around 1500 based on the 1992 result. However, when the Returning Officer announced the result at the Centrum Ice Rink in Prestwick it was a 'Tory Meltdown'. I had become the first ever Labour MP, and the first woman MP, for Ayr with a majority of 6,543.

Getting Re-elected

In the first Scottish Parliamentary Election in 1999, Ian Welsh, held on to the seat but with a majority slashed to a mere 25 votes. We lost the Scottish Parliament seat to the Tories one year later when Ian resigned and caused a by-election. In the by-election Labour slipped back to third place behind both the Tories and the SNP.

The 2001 General Election was in many ways an even better result for me than 1997. Labour came back from third place in the by-election to win by over 2,500 with a much lower turnout than 1997. I had been re-elected, we had secured a second term for a Labour Government, and Phil Gallie had suffered his third defeat in a row in Ayr Constituency.

Unfinished Business

The Scottish Parliament seat remains Labour's unfinished business. Rita Miller, who had been the candidate in the by-election of 2000, fought an excellent campaign in 2003 but failed to retake the seat by 1800 votes.

Once again the marginal nature of Ayr Constituency had been highlighted. What the ballot box had regularly failed to do (ending that marginal status), was soon to be achieved by the Boundary Commission and its proposed boundary changes for Scottish Westminster seats.

A new seat and a Labour seat!

A new enlarged seat was created - Ayr Carrick & Cumnock - bringing together parts of the old Ayr Constituency and most of the old Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Constituency. It combined the whole town of Ayr with the South Ayrshire coal mining areas and the rich farmland of Carrick. If Ayr is best known for its links with Burns, Cumnock is where Keir Hardie lived, the founder of the Labour Party. Ayr had become Scotland’s top marginal but Carrick Cumnock and Doon Valley (South Ayrshire as it had been known before that) was as solid Labour as you could get. As well as it’s association with Keir Hardie it had been served well by Miners’ MPs James Brown, Sanny Sloan and Emrys Hughes (married to Keir Hardie’s daughter). Hughes was followed by Jim Sillars who went on to leave the Labour Party to form his own short lived Scottish Labour Party. The seat was won back for Labour by George Foulkes in 1979 who continued as MP until his retiral in 2005 (now Lord Foulkes of Cumnock). George was a good friend and colleague of mine and gave me tremendous support and encouragement as a new MP. I was very honoured to be chosen as his successor as Labour candidate for the new seat of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock. After fighting five General Election campaigns in marginal Ayr over the years, it was a strange feeling on May 5, to see the Labour votes with my name on them piling up with no-one else even close. I was elected for the new seat with a majority of 10.000!

The days of seeing the sun rise on Ayr recounts are hopefully in the past as far as Westminster elections are concerned. The Scottish Parliamentary Election, however, is another matter. There are moves to look at reconciling boundaries for Westminster and Scottish Parliament constituencies, but, as it stands, victory would have to be achieved on the old Ayr Constituency boundaries, and it could still be a very long night when it comes.