2012 North Ayrshire Council election

The 2012 North Ayrshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of North Ayrshire Council. The election used the eight wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 30 Councillors being elected.

The election saw the Scottish National Party make further advances by gaining four seats to become the largest party on the Council while also increasing their vote share significantly. Labour lost one seat to become the second-largest party on the Council. Independents gained a seat to have a total of six members. The Conservatives lost two-thirds of their former seats, while the Liberal Democrats were wiped out, losing both their seats.

Following the election, the SNP formed a minority administration on the Council. This replaced the previous Labour minority administration which existed from 2007 to 2012. This was also the first time Labour had not been part of the administration on the council for over 30 years.

Election result
Source:

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Irvine West
Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Irvine East
Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Kilwinning
Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while independent candidate Robert Steel gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats.

Saltcoats and Stevenston
Labour (2), the SNP (1) and independent councillor Ronnie McNicol retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Ardrossan and Arran
The SNP, Labour and independent councillor John Hunter retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP gained one seat from former independent councillor Margie Currie.

Dalry and West Kilbride
Independent councillor Elizabeth McLardy retained the seat she had won at the previous election while the SNP and independent councillor Robert Barr each gained a seat from Labour and the Conservatives. In 2007, Cllr Barr had been elected as a Conservative candidate but later left the party.

Kilbirnie and Beith
The SNP, Labour and independent councillor Jean Highgate retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

North Coast and Cumbraes
The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.