THE Conservatives have swooped to victory in the West Kilbride and Dalry by-election after their candidate won over half of the overall vote.

Ronnie Stalker is the village's new councillor after triumphing over SNP rival Robyn Graham by 724 votes.

The by-election was called following the resignation of the SNP’s Joy Brahim earlier this year due to personal reasons.

The result, hailed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross as 'a great one' saw Mr Stalker secure 53.5 per cent of the overall vote share, up 31.3 points on the 2017 result.

The SNP were second with 34.2 per cent, while Labour, the ruling administration in North Ayrshire Council, polled just 8.1 per cent.

Councillor Stalker said: “It is a great privilege to be elected and I am determined to work hard for the entire community. I’d like to thank the people for putting their faith in me and I will do everything I can to be a representative that everyone can be proud of. The hard work starts here.”

Fellow Conservative councillor Todd Ferguson welcomed the win, saying: “I am absolutely thrilled for Ronnie. He has an amazing work ethic and passion for the local area which he will bring to his new role."

Conservative group leader Tom Marshall said: “This excellent result will show to the electorate in North Ayrshire that a vote for the Conservatives does result in more Conservative councillors. We are now a group of eight and we will continue to challenge the poor performance of the Labour administration in NAC, the severe financial cuts imposed on local government and the failures of the SNP Government in Edinburgh.”

Ms Graham of the SNP said: "I was really pleased with how our campaign went. We put in a power of work but congratulations to Ronnie, I really wish him the best."

The count was carried out electronically as local council elections in Scotland use the Single Transferable Voting system, which allows voters to rank candidates in their preferred order.

The total number of valid ballot papers was 3,770. The total number of rejected ballot papers was 31.

The percentage turnout for the by-election was 36.3 per cent.