Ainsley Hayes is a fictional character played by Emily Procter on The West Wing, an American serial political drama.

Primarily appearing in the second and third seasons for a total of twelve episodes, Ainsley served as the Associate White House Counsel under the show's president, Josiah Bartlet.

[3] Sorkin wrote in the official companion book to The West Wing that Ainsley was created to attract younger women to the show.

[5] In Ainsley's first scene, the other characters assume she embodies the stereotype, with Sam Seaborn referring to her as a "young, blonde, leggy Republican".

In the end, Sorkin regretted his decision to not incorporate Ainsley, calling it the biggest mistake he had made in the show's seven-season run.

[12] Ainsley had a promising future as a Republican political pundit, but, as she remarked to the White House counsel furious over her hiring, she wanted to "roll up [her] sleeves, set aside partisanship, and say 'what can I do?

[14] In another episode, Ainsley prevents Sam from disclosing privileged information to force an oil company to pay for a cleanup, which she argued could have gotten him disbarred.

[3] Jon White, a fan who created a website devoted to "17 People", told Vox that her eating habit was a "Quasi-Manic Pixie Dream Girl Quirk Trait™" of Ainsley's, along with her obsession with Gilbert and Sullivan.

[7] In another incident, after speaking to two male staffers who dislike her aggressive tone, they leave her a bouquet of dead flowers with a card that reads "BITCH".

[19] In a review of the episode, Steve Heisler criticized this scene as "vaguely defensive", speculating that it was Aaron Sorkin's response to possible hate mail about his portrayal of women, or a comment he himself might have made.

[15] Patrick Webster criticized the fact that Sorkin, as a "masculine voice", had written the scene at all; he also questioned whether a woman would really react the way Ainsley did when faced with a comment about her sexual appeal.

[22] A few weeks later, he wrote that "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" reversed his opinion on Ainsley, complimenting the character's slapstick wit and charm.

[23] In the 2020 production of A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, Procter returned to read stage directions, despite not appearing in the episode itself.

The role was intended to be split among several other actors on the show, including John Amos, Tim Matheson, and Timothy Busfield, but restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Procter introduced every scene over the three-day taping.