It was a busy Thursday this week, with a major by-election north of the border, plus eight council by-elections south of the border.
In Hamilton there was an MSP vacancy following the death of the SNP incumbent. Usually such elections are a walkover for the defending party, but the declining popularity of the SNP saw the party lose to Labour and narrowly avoid a third place finish. The SNP had been defending a 4,582 majority.
Once again, Reform UK came from nowhere to push the main parties in a tight three-way contest. Reform also enjoyed a significant swing from the SNP, in line with recent polling that suggested even some pro-independence voters were considering a vote for Reform. We live in interesting times.
Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse, Scottish Parliament
(first past the post)
Lab: 8,559 (31.5%) -2.0%
SNP: 7,957 (29.4%) -16.8%
Ref: 7,088 (26.2%) New
Con: 1,621 (6.0%) -11.5%
Grn: 695 (2.6%) New
LDm: 533 (2.0%) -0.8%
SSP: 278 (1.0%) New
SFP: 219 (0.8%) New
Ind: 109 (0.4%) New
UKIP: 50 (0.2%) New
Lab GAIN from SNP
While Labour will be cock-a-hoop with the Holyrood result, the story further south was dismal. They lost all three seats they were defending to Reform. The Labour vote share was down in every single ward, ranging from a marginal 0.2 per cent to a whopping 50.5 per cent.
Reform also gained a seat from the Conservatives, while it was also a good night for the Lib Dems who held two and gained two, both from the Tories.
Somercotes, Amber Valley Borough Council
Ref: 396 (45.3%) New
Lab: 346 (39.6%) -27.0%
Con: 53 (6.1%) -15.1%
LDm: 48 (5.5%) -1.1%
Grn: 20 (2.3%) -3.3%
Ind: 11 (1.3%) New
Ref GAIN from Lab
Fairstead, Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Ref: 289 (39.1%) New
LDm: 275 (37.2%) New
Lab: 118 (16.0%) -29.7%
Grn: 36 (4.9%) -16.9%
Ind: 21 (2.8%) New
Ref GAIN from Lab
North Lynn, Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Ref: 278 (49.6%) New
LDm: 123 (22.0%) New
Lab: 107 (19.1%) -50.5%
Grn: 52 (9.3%) New
Ref GAIN from Lab
Frinton, Tendring District Council
Ref: 1,222 (57.2%) New
Con: 577 (27.0%) -15.0%
Lab: 168 (7.9%) -7.0%
Grn: 93 (4.3%) -8.0%
LDm: 78 (3.6%) New
Ref GAIN from Con
Burgess Hill North, West Sussex County Council
LDm: 1,088 (40.9%) n/c
Ref: 707 (26.6%) New
Con: 618 (23.3%) -14.9%
Grn: 153 (5.8%) -5.4%
Lab: 92 (4.7%) -5.0%
LDm HOLD
Hassocks & Burgess Hill South, West Sussex County Council
LDm: 1,694 (55.3%) -6.6%
Ref: 762 (24.9%) New
Con: 310 (10.1%) -15.9%
Grn: 175 (5.7%) New
Lab: 123 (4.0%) -8.1%
LDm HOLD
St Leonard's Forest, West Sussex County Council
LDm: 644 (32.5%) +2.2%
Ref: 584 (29.5%) New
Con: 401 (20.2%) -34.3%
Grn: 259 (13.1%) New
Lab: 94 (4.7%) -10.5%
LDm GAIN from Con
Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates, Wokingham Borough Council
LDm: 1,028 (31.2%) +3.2%
Lab: 793 (24.1%) -0.2%
Con: 788 (23.9%) -4.2%
Ref: 486 (14.8%) New
Grn: 189 (5.5%) -6.2%
TUS: 17 (0.5%) New
LDm GAIN from Con
Abbreviations
SNP = Scottish National Party
Lab = Labour
Ref = Reform UK
Con = Conservative
Grn = Green
LDm = Liberal Democrat
SSP = Scottish Socialist Party
SFP = Scottish Family Party
UKIP = United Kingdom Independence Party
TUS = Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Ind = Independent
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