Political

Beatrice Wishart wins Shetland by-election for Scottish Parliament

Three by-elections this week, two for local councils and one for the Scottish Parliament. In all three, the Conservative and Labour votes fell, it is worth noting.

Radcliffe West, Bury

Kingsley Jones stood for the Liberal Democrats to contest this Labour-held seat. A nice little step forward in the Lib Dem vote was secured in a contest that saw Labour hammered and the Conservative vote slump:

RADF = Radcliffe First, a local independent slate.

East Kilbride Central North, South Lanarkshire

Being in Scotland, this contest was held using the altnerative vote as it was to fill one vacancy in a multi-member ward usually elected by STV. Paul McGarry stood for the Liberal Democrats and also scored a good vote increase:

Labour and Conservatives both down again.

Shetland, Scottish Parliament

Beatrice Wishart campaigning in Shetland

Following Tavish Scott’s retirement as an MSP, Beatrice Wishart stood for the Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems have twice before scored a lower share of the vote in Shetland, so to achieve this result with a new candidate in a seat where personal votes matter so much is a solid result. As for the Labour and Conservative shares…

Beatrice Wishart’s election means the Lib Dem MSP team is no longer all-male – another welcome piece of progress in improving the party’s diversity.

These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections. See my post The danger in celebrating parish and town council wins for your own party for the reasons to avoid straying too often into covering town, parish or community council by-elections.

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