AS his boss at Westminster entertains the nation with her bid to become prime minister, Willie Rennie has been even more anonymous than usual of late.
The Scottish LibDem leader has successfully thrust himself back into the limelight, however, with an attack on Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister took to Twitter to congratulate SNP councillors Derek Glen and Sharon Wilson on their respective by-election victories in Dunfermline East and Rosyth.
Many congratulations to @theSNP two newest councillors - @sharonwilsonsnp in Rosyth and @derekgglen in Dunfermline 👏
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) November 15, 2019
READ MORE: LibDem leaflet hilariously claims candidate won Nobel Peace Prize
But that does not mean the SNP should be popping open the champagne – at least in the eyes of Rennie.
“Well done,” began his somewhat disingenuous congratulations to Sturgeon.
He claimed the SNP had won “just by two votes” in Dunfermline Central, adding that the LibDems were “on your tail”.
Well done @NicolaSturgeon but just by two votes in Dunfermline Central. @scotlibdems on your tail. https://t.co/vKChvQJ8Jv
— Willie Rennie (@willie_rennie) November 15, 2019
As has become a habit during this election campaign, the LibDem was being creative with the facts.
READ MORE: General Election: Three times Jo Swinson’s LibDems misled voters
Scottish local government elections are conducted under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.
Under STV, candidates are ranked in order of preference. Once a candidate reaches a threshold of first preference votes, they are elected. Additional votes are then transferred at a reduced value to other candidates.
In the Dunfermline Central election, the candidate for Rennie’s party in fact finished third on first preference votes. They received just 1050 votes, behind the Tory candidate on 1142 and the SNP candidate on 1526.
Thus, the LibDems actually trailed the SNP by around 500 votes.
READ MORE: SNP celebrate double council by-election victory in Fife
Only when transferred votes are taken into account does the gap close to two votes.
This fact was not lost on Shirley-Anne Somerville, SNP MSP for Dunfermline and West Fife, who sent a warning to Rennie.
Nice try @willie_rennie but Lib Dems were 500 votes behind and in third place at first preferences and that’ll be what matters come @DougChapmanSNP election. Once again you’re #AllSpinNoSubstance https://t.co/HZSf1CEKrm
— S-A Somerville (@S_A_Somerville) November 15, 2019
Nice try, Willie.
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