Scottish Daily Politics 2024
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s First Minister, has been dealt another massive setback after the SNP suffered another significant council by-election defeat at the hands of Douglas Ross’s Tories.
The Nationalists had been defending the seat of Jedburgh and District seat, in the Scottish Borders council area. However, the party was left licking its wounds, with the SNP’s vote share plummeting by almost six percent.
The Conservatives won 58.5 percent, a rise of 8.2 percent in terms of first preference votes compared with two years ago, when all three seats were up for grabs. Conversely, the SNP’s vote share fell to a mere 17.4 per cent, down 5.7 percent.
As a result, John Lawrence Bathgate was elected as the ward’s new councillor for the ward. The poll had been triggered by the resignation of SNP councillor Pam Brown.
The result means the Tories have all three seats in Jedburgh and District ward, having won the other two in 2022.
Scottish Daily Politics 2024
Mr Ross said: “My congratulations go to John Bathgate as our party’s newest councillor after his terrific by-election win. John ran a fantastic campaign and I know he will be an excellent councillor and a strong voice for Jedburgh and District on Scottish Borders Council.
“This superb gain for the Scottish Conservatives shows that in swathes of seats across the country, only we can stand up to the SNP and shift the focus on to Scotland’s real priorities – like growing the economy and sorting out our ailing public services.
“This council ward falls into the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk parliamentary seat.
“This is a constituency, like many across Scotland, which will be a straight fight between the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives, who are standing up for rural Scotland.”
Scottish Daily Politics 2024
Speaking to The Herald newspaper afterwards, Councillor Elaine Thornton-Nicol, leader of the SNP group at Scottish Borders Council, said: “Taking into account everything that’s going on around us, I find it incredibly hard to believe that people continue to vote for parties that are destroying lives on a daily basis through the cost of living crisis.”
However, she acknowledged: “It is about democracy.” SNP candidate Phil Doxin won just 410 votes. Scottish Labour, which did not field a candidate in 2022, took 10.2 percent, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who also did not run 7.1 percent and the Scottish Greens 5.7 percent – down 1.4 percent on 2022.
In full council elections, parties are permitted to put up three candidates for the wards, who are elected according to a list system.
Therefore Tory Scott Hamilton, who took 1,089 votes (31.1 percent) was elected first, then Ms Brown, who took 809 votes (23.1 percent) and then another Tory, Sandy Scott, who took 675 votes (19.2 percent). Therefore the combined Tory vote was 50.3 percent.
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