Labour Wins By-Election in Scotland, Doubling Its MPs

Labour Defeats SNP by Huge Margin in Rutherglen and Hamilton West By-Election. Labour has won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, defeating the SNP by a large margin and doubling its number of Scottish MPs. 

The by-election was triggered by the removal of former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier, who broke Covid rules by travelling between London and Glasgow after testing positive for the virus.

A successful recall petition, the first of its kind in Scotland, led to the vote on October 5, 2023.

The results were as follows:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Percentage	Change
Michael Shanks	Labour	17,845	58.4%	+20.0%
Katy Loudon	SNP	8,399	27.5%	-20.1%
Thomas Kerr	Conservative	1,192	3.9%	-7.0%
Others	Various	3,095	10.1%	+7.1%

The turnout was 37.19%, well down from the last general election in 2019, when it was 66.6%. Labour’s Michael Shanks, a modern studies teacher, won with a majority of 9,446 votes, a swing of 20% from the SNP. 

He will join Ian Murray at Westminster as Labour’s second MP in Scotland.

Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed the result as a “seismic moment” and a “stunning victory” for his party and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. 

He said it showed that Labour was “reconnecting with the people of Scotland” and that the party was “on the road to recovery”. 

He also praised Mr Shanks as a “brilliant candidate” who ran a “positive campaign”.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Mr Shanks on his win but said she was “disappointed” with the result. 

She admitted that the circumstances of the by-election were “difficult” for her party and that the low turnout had an impact. 

She said the SNP would “reflect carefully” on the outcome and that her party remained “focused on delivering for the people of Scotland”.

The Conservatives came third in the by-election, losing their deposit after their vote share fell below 5%. 

Their candidate Thomas Kerr said he was “proud” of his campaign and that he would continue to fight for Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

He blamed the weather and the Covid situation for the low turnout and said it was “not a reflection” of his party’s support in Scotland.

The by-election was seen as a test of Labour’s prospects in Scotland ahead of the next general election in 2024. 

Labour has been struggling to regain its former dominance in Scotland since losing all but one of its seats to the SNP in 2015. 

The party hopes to win back some of its traditional heartlands and challenge the SNP’s push for a second independence referendum