North Ayrshire: History
The local government district was formed as Cunninghame in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Cunninghame was one of nineteen districts created within the region of Strathclyde. The district covered the whole area of three former districts from the historic county of Buteshire and nine former districts from Ayrshire, plus small parts of a further two districts within the designated area for Irvine New Town:
Ardrossan Burgh
Arran District
Ayr District (part within designated area of Irvine New Town)
Cumbrae District
Irvine Burgh
Irvine District
Kilbirnie District
Kilmarnock District (part within designated area of Irvine New Town)
Kilwinning Burgh
Millport Burgh
Largs Burgh
Saltcoats Burgh
Stevenston Burgh
West Kilbride District
Arran, Cumbrae and Millport were from Buteshire, the rest were from Ayrshire.
The district was abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. North Ayrshire council area was formed with identical boundaries to Cunninghame District. The name Cunninghame is still used for two constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, namely Cunninghame North and Cunninghame South.
The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 was as follows:
The council was based at Cunnninghame House on Friars Croft in Irvine, which was purpose-built for the council and completed in 1975, forming part of the new town centre for Irvine following its designation as a New Town. Following the district's abolition in 1996 the building has been the headquarters of North Ayrshire Council. …