| An Taobh Siar agus Nis | |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Council: | Na h-Eileanan Siar |
| Region: | Scotland |
| Map1: | An Taobh Siar agus Nis.jpg |
| Map Entity: | Na h-Eileanan Siar |
| Map Year: | 2007–2022 |
| Previous: | Barvas and Arnol Carloway Dell Gress Laxdale Port of Ness Shawbost |
| Electorate: | 2,552 (2022) |
| Population: | 2,668 (2021)[1] |
| Elects Howmany: | 3 |
| Councillor1: | John N. MacLeod |
| Party1: | Independent (politician) |
| Councillor2: | Kenneth MacLeod |
| Party2: | Scottish National Party |
| Councillor3: | Donald MacSween |
| Party3: | Independent (politician) |
| Towns: | Barvas Port of Ness |
| Scot Parl: | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
| Scot Region: | Highlands and Islands |
| Westminster: | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
gd|'''An Taobh Siar agus Nis'''|West Side and Ness is one of the 11 wards of gd|[[Comhairle nan Eilean Siar]]|Council of the Western Isles. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a four-member ward, the number of members elected in An Taobh Siar agus Nis was reduced following a boundary review and it has elected three councillors since the 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.
Independents have dominated elections in the Western Isles and the majority of councillors elected in the area have had no party affiliation. However, since 2012, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have held one of the seats.
The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so An Taobh Siar agus Nis was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Dell and Port of Ness wards, the majority of the former Barvas and Arnol and Shawbost wards as well as part of the former Carloway, Gress and Laxdale wards. The ward centres around the towns of Barvas and Port of Ness in the northwest of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It includes the remote and uninhabited Isle of Rona in the north Atlantic Ocean – the northernmost part of the council area.[2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have extended the ward south to include Carloway.[3] However, these were not adopted by Scottish ministers as plans for the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 would bring forward an interim review following the 2017 elections.[4]
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 allowed for the creation of single- and dual-member wards to allow for better representation of island areas. The boundaries for An Taobh Siar agus Nis were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act. However, the ward was reduced from a four-member ward to a three-member ward to improve electoral parity.[5]
| Election | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Agnes Rennie (Independent) | John MacKay (Independent) | Kenneth M. Murray (Independent) | Iain Morrison (Independent) | ||||
| 2012 | Kenneth MacLeod (SNP) | |||||||
| 2015 by-election | John N. McLeod (Independent) | |||||||
| 2017 | Kenny J. MacLeod (Independent) | |||||||
| 2022 | Donald McSween (Independent) | |||||||
See main article: 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.
2017 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election[6]