At Westminster, the equivalent South Ayrshire and later Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituencies consistently returned Labour MP's since the 1930s. The area was among the most reliable and safest Labour areas in Scotland and the UK as a whole, with Labour continually gaining the majority of the vote in most electoral wards in the constituency. On a local level, Cumnock, Ballochmyle, Doon Valley, Maybole, Annbank, Tarbolton, Mossblown and parts of Girvan consistently supported Labour, with these areas making up the majority of the constituency. Rural and suburban areas in Kyle and Carrick have been more supportive of Conservative candidates in the past - including Coylton, Dundoald, Loans, Monkton, Symington, Dunure, Minishant and Girvan Ailsa at the 2003 local election for South Ayrshire. At the 1979 UK general election the Scottish Labour Party - a pro-independence breakaway group from the UK Labour Party - polled second place in the constituency at just 1,521 votes behind Labour's George Foulkes.