Editing Dumfries (section)

===Political representation===
[[File:Dumfries & Galloway Council Headquarters (geograph 4699595).jpg|thumb|[[County Buildings, Dumfries|Dumfries & Galloway Council Headquarters]]]]
Dumfries is located in the [[Subdivisions of Scotland|council area]] of [[Dumfries and Galloway]]. It is the seat of the local council, whose headquarters are located on the edge of the town centre. Until 1995 Dumfries was also home to the council for the local district of [[Nithsdale]]. Dumfries also lends its name to the [[Lieutenancy areas of Scotland|lieutenancy area]] of Dumfries, which is similar in boundaries to the former [[Dumfriesshire]] county.

On the Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries is covered by four 4-seat wards: Abbey, Lochar, Nith and North West Dumfries. North West Dumfries is the only ward that solely covers areas within the town itself, with the others incorporating outlying areas. In the [[2017 Dumfries and Galloway Council election|2017 council election]], these wards elected 6 [[Scottish Labour Party|Labour]], 5 [[Scottish Conservatives|Conservative]] and 4 [[Scottish National Party|SNP]] councillors.

Dumfries is split into two UK Parliament constituencies: [[Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfries and Galloway]] which is represented by [[John Cooper (British politician)|John Cooper]] and [[Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale]] which is represented by [[David Mundell]], both of the [[Scottish Conservative Party]]. For Scottish Parliament elections, Dumfries is in the [[South Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|South Scotland electoral region]] and split between two constituencies. The western wards of Abbey and North West Dumfries are in the constituency of [[Galloway and West Dumfries]], while the eastern wards of Nith and Lochar are in the constituency of [[Dumfriesshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Dumfriesshire]]. The respective MSPs are [[Finlay Carson]] and [[Oliver Mundell]], both of the [[Scottish Conservative Party]].

In the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], Dumfries and Galloway had the country's [[2014 Scottish independence referendum#By area|third heaviest 'No' vote]] at more than 65% of the ballots cast. That was more than 10 points higher than the national average pro-union vote.