BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003


CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
Allan Wilson	LAB	11145	38.9	-4.0
Campbell Martin	SNP	7755	27.1	-1.5
Peter Ramsay	CON	5542	19.4	-0.5
John Boyd	LD	2333	8.1	-0.5
Sean Scott	SSP	1859	6.5	+6.5

	MAJORITY	3390	11.8
	TURNOUT	28634	51.8


ELECTORATE	55319

DESCRIPTION: Cunninghame North

This is a coastal and rural seat with declining traditional industries. Mining used to take place inland, but all the pits have now closed. Textiles too are in decline, and the main industriestoday are tourism and agriculture. Largs and the Isle of Arran are popular tourist destinations. This seat also contains the nuclear power station at Hunterston. The Tories normally do well in tourist traps and agricultural areas, but this seat's industrial history and working-class towns have meant that the potential has always been there for Labour victories.

Cunninghame North and its predecessor seat of North Ayrshire & Bute were held by the Conservatives from 1918 until 1987 when Energy Minister Brian Wilson won it. Before the 1997 election this seat was seen as a Labour/Conservative marginal, however the SNP have been in second place at both Westminster and Holyrood elections. Deputy Rural Development and Environment Minister Allan Wilson won it for Labour with a majority of 4,798 in 1999. This is exactly the sort of seat where the SNP hopes to make inroads.

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