Loch a Tuath (ward)

Loch a Tuath
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Boundary of Loch a Tuath in Na h-Eileanan Siar from 2007–2022.
Population	2,654 (2021)[1]
Electorate	2,216 (2022)
Major settlements	Coll North Tolsta
Scottish Parliament constituency	Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Scottish Parliament region	Highlands and Islands
UK Parliament constituency	Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	3
Councillor	Donald F. Crichton (Independent)
Councillor	Calum MacLean (Independent)
Councillor	John A. MacIver (SNP)
Created from	Barvas and Arnol Blackwater Braighe Carloway Coll Gress Laxdale

Loch a Tuath (Scottish Gaelic for 'Broad Bay', lit. 'North Loch'') is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Scottish Gaelic for 'Council of the Western Isles'). Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 2,654 people.

Independents have dominated elections in the Western Isles and the majority of councillors elected in the area have had no party affiliation. However, since 2012, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have held one of the seats.

Boundaries

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Loch a Tuath was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Coll ward, the majority of the former Blackwater, Gress and Laxdale wards as well as part of the former Barvas and Arnol, Braighe and Carloway wards. The ward centres around the towns of Coll and North Tolsta in the northeast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.[2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have maintained the ward's original boundaries.[3] However, these were not adopted by Scottish ministers as plans for the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 would bring forward an interim review following the 2017 elections.[4]

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 allowed for the creation of single- and dual-member wards to allow for better representation of island areas. The boundaries and number of members representing Loch a Tuath were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act.[5]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		John A. MacIver (Independent/ SNP)		Kenneth MacIver (Independent)		Catriona Stewart (Independent)
2012			Donald Finlayson Crichton (Independent)
2017	Callum McLean (Independent)
2022

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

Loch a Tuath – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent	Donald F. Crichton (incumbent)	41.1	461
	Independent	Calum MacLean (incumbent)	22.2	249	330
	SNP	John A. MacIver (incumbent)	21.9	246	281
	Independent	Catriona Murray	11.2	126	168
	Independent	Hazel G. Mansfield	3.5	39	46
Electorate: 2,216   Valid: 1,121   Spoilt: 27   Quota: 281   Turnout: 51.8%

Source:[6]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

Loch a Tuath – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	Donald Crichton (incumbent)	46.0	590
	Independent	Calum MacLean	17.9	230	344
	SNP	John A. MacIver (incumbent)	17.9	230	271	276	298	335
	Independent	Iain MacIver	6.1	78	115	119	137	170
	Independent	Ruaraidh Ferguson	6.2	80	110	113	132
	Independent	Allan MacLachlan	5.8	74	98	104
Electorate: 2,255   Valid: 1,282   Spoilt: 35   Quota: 321   Turnout: 58.4%

Source: [7]

2012 Election

2012 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

Loch a Tuath - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Independent	Donald Finlayson Crichton	28.0%	331
	SNP	John A. MacIver (incumbent)	24.53%	290	298.4
	Independent	Catriona Stewart (incumbent)	23.88%	273	282.5	283.1	333.1
	Independent	Kenneth MacIver (incumbent)	14.47%	171	177.9	178.5	201.8
	Independent	Alasdair Nicholson	9.9%	117	122.1	122.7
Electorate: 2,166   Valid: 1,182   Spoilt: 17   Quota: 296   Turnout: 1,199 (54.57%)

2007 Election

2007 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election, 2007: Loch a Tuath

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Independent	Catriona Stewart	486	36.0	1	1
	Independent	Kenneth MacIver	249	18.4	2	3
	SNP	Iain Murdo MacDonald	235	17.4
	Independent	John A. MacIver†	233	17.3	3	5
	Independent	Alasdair Nicholson	147	10.9

References

1. "Loch a Tuath". Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an lar Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; East Ayrshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
4. "Council ward boundaries agreed". Scottish Government. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
5. "Review of Electoral Arrangements; Na h-Eileanan an Iar Council Area" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. June 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
6. Faulds, Allan. "Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
7. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Results 2017 Eilean Siar". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 1 November 2024.