The future electoral set up for local wards in Orkney has been laid out by Boundaries Scotland.
The proposals are 21 councillors in six wards, comprising three wards each returning 3-members and three wards each returning 4-members as follows:
| Ward No. | Ward Name | Cllrs | Electorate (Dec 17) | Current Variation from Electoral Parity (%)1 | Forecast Electorate | Forecast Variation from Electoral Parity (%)2 |
| 1 | Kirkwall East | 4 | 3,661 | 12.8 | 3,644 | 12.6 |
| 2 | Kirkwall West and Orphir | 4 | 3,415 | 5.2 | 3,452 | 6.7 |
| 3 | Stromness and South Isles | 3 | 2,147 | -11.8 | 2,140 | -11.8 |
| 4 | West Mainland | 4 | 3,521 | 8.5 | 3,492 | 7.9 |
| 5 | East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray | 3 | 2,496 | 2.5 | 2,489 | 2.6 |
| 6 | North Isles | 3 | 1,798 | -26.1 | 1,771 | -27.0 |
| 21 | 17,038 | 16,988 |
This would mean OIC having the same number of councillors as now with no boundary changes for : North Isles; Stromness and South Isles; and West Mainland.
The boundary between Kirkwall East ward and Kirkwall West and Orphir ward is to be amended by Kirkwall harbour to create a more easily identifiable ward boundary and the Kirkwall East ward boundary is to be extended southwards to better reflect local ties by placing Kirkwall airport and neighbouring local communities within a Kirkwall ward.
If you don’t know who your councillor is in Orkney you can click on this link: Multi Member Wards. It involves a lot of clicking.
The next local government elections take place on Thursday 5th of May 2022.
Categories: Uncategorized
