The make-up of East Ayrshire Council has shifted dramatically since its creation in 1995.

Replacing the old Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council following local government reorganisation, that first election saw a Labour victory.

They won 22 of the 30 seats on the council at the 1995 council elections- with the SNP picking up the other eight seats across the area.

The party continued to hold a strong control over East Ayrshire at the 2003 election - which was the last to use the old ‘first past the post’ system.

Labour won 23 of the 32 seats, while the SNP picked up eight seats and the Tories won one.

READ MORE: The battle to win East Ayrshire Council as public go to the poles

A 2006 by-election of the Altonhill, Hillhead & Longpark ward saw the SNP retain their seat there, with Helen Coffey picking up 59 per cent of the vote.

But the 2007 election was the first one using nine new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.

Each ward elected three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation.

That poll saw Labour lose their majority and the SNP take control of the council area as a minority, with the Scottish National Party equalling Labour’s number of seats, taking 14 seats each while the Conservative party won three.

On 1 October 2009 a by-election was held to fill the vacancy which arose following the death of Independent Cllr James Sutherland. Moira Pirrie won that by-election for Labour.

The 2012 election then saw victories for the SNP and Conservatives.

The SNP won 15 of the 32 seats, while Labour were one seat behind the ruling party, and unable to take control.

This time, voters returned one Independent councillor in the Annick seat, when Ellen Freel won the area from Conservative councillor Rose-Ann Cunninghame.

The Conservative party took two of the seats, with the SNP and Tories sharing power over the council area.

There were three by-elections that took place in the years after the 2012 election.

A by-election in Kilmarnock North in 2014, caused by the death of SNP councillor Andrew Kershaw saw Elaine Cowan hold the seat for the SNP.

Irvine Valley SNP Cllr Alan Brown was elected as an MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun on May 7, 2015, and he resigned his Council seat. A by-election was then held on October 1 2015. His seat was held by Elena Whitham of the SNP.

Kilmarnock East and Hurlford SNP Cllr James Buchanan sadly died in October 2016 after a short illness.

Tributes poured in for the councillor in the aftermath, and a by-election was held on January 26, 2017 and the seat was held by Fiona Campbell of the SNP.

That same year the people of East Ayrshire headed to the voting booths once again.

The 2017 Scottish Council Elections saw the SNP regain East Ayrshire Council for themselves, holding a minority share with 14 seats.

Labour won just nine seats that year, while the Conservatives won six.

There were two independent councillors elected while the Rubbish Party won a seat - the only seat that was won by the party in all of Scotland.

The summer of 2021 saw high drama within the ranks of East Ayrshire Council when SNP provost Jim Todd was overthrown.

Labour councillor Barry Douglas took the post by a council vote of 15 to 16.

He was supported in his efforts by the Tories and the “Rubbish Party”.

Todd, known as the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Provost” was awaiting a hip replacement and had less than a year to go in his role.

The SNP wing of the council felt that the vote was an attack on the party, but Labour Cllr John McGhee insisted that it was not and that it was time that the roles in the council reflected the make-up of the public body.

SNP depute provost Claire Leitch also lost her role with the position going to Sally Cogley, of the “Rubbish Party”.