Conservatives buck national trend in North Ayrshire as Tory chief admits surprise at rise
dailyrecord.co.ukWhispers of the Conservatives' huge increase in North Ayrshire swept through Irvine's Portal on Friday with just under half of the wards left to be declared.It was an election day prophecy that surprised and stunned many, including the local party's group leader.After all the votes were counted, SNP's single seat gain from 2017 has put them in the driving seat to take charge of the council but the Tories' unprecedented rise was so vast that it's seen Labour fall back to being the region third-biggest party.While Labour made huge gains nationally and the Conservatives were swept aside, North Ayrshire has bucked the trend.The Tories' group leader, Tom Marshall, has gone from being a lone ranger in the council chamber ten years ago to now being in opposition.Even the Conservative stalwart from the North Coast ward admitted his shock at his party's performance.When asked if he expected to return as many as 10 councillors, Mr Marshall said on Friday: "To be quite honest, no.
I'm pleasantly surprised and I thought we might have got six or seven back but they way the system has worked in our benefit in five member wards we've been able to squeeze a few members in."It's a great achievement.
Ten years ago I was the sole councillor and five years ago there was seven of us and now we have 10."We've worked very hard as a group and we tried to be an influence for good on the council."Asked what he puts the inexplicable rise down to: "We've been very tenacious in following policies and representing the views of our communities and continually attacking this idea of municipal socialism."We believe in promoting the private sector; promoting the benefits for all people in the area.
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