Loch a Tuath (ward)
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| Loch a Tuath | |
|---|---|
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | |
 Boundary of Loch a Tuath in Na h-Eileanan Siar from 2007–2022. | |
| Population | 2,654 (2021)[1] |
| Electorate | 2,216 (2022) |
| Major settlements | Coll North Tolsta |
| Scottish Parliament constituency | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
| Scottish Parliament region | Highlands and Islands |
| UK Parliament constituency | Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
| Current ward | |
| Created | 2007 |
| Number of councillors | 3 |
| Councillor | Donald F. Crichton (Independent) |
| Councillor | Calum MacLean (Independent) |
| Councillor | John A. MacIver (SNP) |
| Created from | Barvas and Arnol Blackwater Braighe Carloway Coll Gress Laxdale |
Loch a Tuath (Scottish Gaelic for 'Broad Bay', lit. 'North Loch'') is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Scottish Gaelic for 'Council of the Western Isles'). Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 2,654 people.
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 Loch a Tuath was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Coll ward, the majority of the former Blackwater, Gress and Laxdale wards as well as part of the former Barvas and Arnol, Braighe and Carloway wards. The ward centres around the towns of Coll and North Tolsta in the northeast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.[2] Proposals in the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections would have maintained the ward's original boundaries.[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 and number of members representing Loch a Tuath were unaffected by the 2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements – instigated as a result of the act.[5]