SCOTTISH Labour have taken a council seat from the SNP in a by-election.
South Lanarkshire Council now has one more Labour representative after Kirsty Williams won the race to replace former SNP councillor Ali Salamati.
Salamati had resigned his position on the Unionist-run council in May due to his other work commitments taking him overseas.
A by-election to replace him in the three-member East Kilbride West ward was held on July 6, with voting open between 7am and 10pm.
READ MORE: 'This is how we win independence': SNP hopes high ahead of key experts' report
Once the votes were counted, Scottish Labour’s Williams emerged on top with the Tories’ Bill Dorrian coming in second place.
The SNP – who fielded Robert Gillies as a candidate – were relegated to third position in a disappointing result for the party.
Both the Tories and Labour saw their percentage vote share increase by 6.4 points and 14 points respectively, while the SNP’s dropped by 8.2 points, according to Ballot Box Scotland.
🚨 LABOUR GAIN 🚨
— Scottish Labour (@ScottishLabour) July 6, 2023
Congratulations Kirsty Williams for her win in East Kilbride West - and well done to the amazing team who worked hard campaigning!
Change is coming with Labour. pic.twitter.com/2UUuOQpq5E
Williams also beat contenders including Cameron Eadie from the Greens, LibDem Jake Stevenson, independent Kristofer Keane, and Jonathan Jack Richardson from the Scottish Family Party.
After the 2022 election, the ward had one Labour, one SNP, and one independent representative. It now has two Labour councillors and one independent.
According to South Lanarkshire Council, the ward had an electorate of around 13,350 people. The turnout was just 25.7%.
The local authority is run as a minority Labour administration propped up by votes from the Conservatives and LibDems, although the SNP emerged from the 2022 elections as the largest group.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel