THE full list of candidates vying for the vacant North Ayrshire Council seat in Kilwinning has now been confirmed.

The by-election will be taking place on May 9, following the death of Conservative councillor John Glover in February.

The local Labour party had previously announced that Mary Hume would be standing for the party, though other candidates were yet to be confirmed.

But the deadline for submitting nomination papers was 4pm on Friday, April 5 - and North Ayrshire Council has published a full list of who will be in the running and who they will be representing.

As well as Mary Hume, two familiar names will be returning to ballot papers for the people of Kilwinning.

Among the well-known names is Sheila Gibson, who will be standing for the SNP, having run in the same ward at the last full council election in May 2022.

Mr Glover pipped Ms Gibson at the sixth round of counting two years ago, when he was elected alongside Joe Cullinane (Labour), Scott Davidson (SNP) and Donald Reid (Labour).

Also returning to the ballot paper after standing in 2022 is Ruby Kirkwood for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Ms Kirkwood received 191 first preference votes last time but was eliminated in the fourth round of counting.

The Conservative candidate hoping to succeed Mr Glover is Chris Lawler, while Ian Charles Gibson will contest the seat for the Scottish Family Party.

The by-election could have a major say in the current make-up of North Ayrshire Council. 

Both Labour and the Conservatives currently have nine seats in the council chamber, meaning that if either wins on May 9, they will become the main opposition to the minority SNP administration - a role filled by the Conservatives until Cllr Glover's death.

Further information about the by-election can be found online at tinyurl.com/KilwinningByElection.