Counting begins in Hamilton by-election
Ballot boxes arrived from across the constituency at around 10.15pm, before being rolled out across the counting room at South Lanarkshire Council's headquarters in Hamilton.
Turnout has been announced as 44.2%, with a total of 27,155 votes cast on Thursday out of a possible electorate of 61,485.
A senior Reform UK source told the PA news agency the party would likely come third in the seat, averting the potential surge the SNP and Labour feared could take hold.
A number of high-profile figures in Scottish politics are observing the count, including Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie, Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan and Labour MSP Monica Lennon.
The contest was called in the wake of the death of Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie and was initially viewed as a battle between the SNP and Labour, but Reform UK saw a surge during the campaign, with the party thought to have a good chance of unseating Labour and coming second.
The campaign has been marked by attack ads from the Nigel Farage-led party against Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, accusing him of prioritising people from Pakistan and using a speech he gave encouraging people from a South Asian background to get into politics.
Opponents of Reform roundly criticised the ad as 'racist'.
First Minister John Swinney described the contest as a 'two-horse race' between his party and Reform, but Labour has consistently said it is still in with a chance.
The First Minister said voters should back his party in order to 'stop Farage'.
He added: 'People face a simple choice in this by-election.
'They can either vote for the SNP – elect an SNP MSP – or they will end up with a Reform MSP. That's the simple choice.'
Reform is yet to win an election at any level in Scotland, but boasts a number of defected councillors.
Mr Farage himself, in a visit to Scotland this week, said it was unlikely his party would win, despite recent polls suggesting Reform was second in voter preference in Scotland with just 11 months to go to the next Holyrood election.
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Telegraph
35 minutes ago
- Telegraph
SNP ‘running down the clock' before losing power, claims Anas Sarwar
The SNP's 'balloon has burst' and John Swinney is 'running down the clock', Anas Sarwar, Scotland's First Minister, has said after Labour won a shock by-election victory. The Scottish Labour leader said his party's knife-edge win in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse contest showed voters wanted to oust the SNP from power in next year's Holyrood election. Labour's Davy Russell won the Scottish Parliament seat by 602 votes from the SNP's Katy Loudon, with Reform's Ross Lambie only 887 votes behind her. The Tories finished a distant fourth, barely saving their deposit, after their support collapsed. Mr Swinney was left humiliated by the loss of the SNP seat after repeatedly claiming the by-election was a straight fight between his party and Reform. Alex Neil, the former SNP minister, said the First Minister should resign. Speaking the morning after the victory, Ms Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of running a 'disgraceful campaign' that 'deliberately' encouraged people to vote for Reform. Mr Sarwar said the result demonstrated that next year's Holyrood election would really be a 'straight choice' between the SNP and Labour, with Reform merely a 'spoiler' who could not win power. But Prof Sir John Curtice, the country's most eminent psephologist, said Reform had achieved a 'highly creditable' third place by attracting a slew of former Labour voters. Writing in the Telegraph, he warned Nigel Farage's party risked 'severely denting' Mr Sarwar's hopes of being First Minister. Sir John also said Labour's performance, its vote share in the constituency declined, was 'well short of what is needed to demonstrate it is currently on course to win next year's Holyrood election.' He said Labour still managed to scrape victory thanks to a 17-point drop in support for the Nationalists, with independence supporters 'less forgiving than they once were of what many perceive as the SNP's poor record in government.' The contest was called following the death of Christina McKelvie, the Scottish Government minister, who won the seat for the SNP with a 4,582 majority in the 2021 Holyrood election. 'An outsider' in the contest Although Labour won the equivalent seat at Westminster by almost 10,000 votes in last year's general election, the party's collapse in support during the early months of Sir Keir Starmer's government meant it was viewed as an outsider in the contest. However, Labour insiders attributed their victory to Mr Russell's popularity locally and a strong get-out-the-vote operation that saw more than 200 activists travel to the constituency on polling day. Speaking at a press call in Hamilton town centre with Mr Russell, Mr Sarwar said he was 'confident' that he could replace Mr Swinney as First Minister in 2025. The Scottish Labour leader said: 'I think what we're seeing now is the running down of the clock. This is an SNP government that's lost its way, the balloon is burst, they are out of ideas, they are out of steam. 'They have no positive offer for the people of Scotland, they've got no positive record to put in front of the people of Scotland and they're running down the clock.' He said there was a 'lesson' for pollsters and commentators who believed Mr Swinney's claim that the by-election was a straight fight between the SNP and Reform, arguing they should stop listening to the First Minister's 'nonsense.' Pressed on Sir John's view that Reform's strong performance would make it difficult for Labour to win power next year at Holyrood, he said the psephologist was only looking at a 'snapshot' of a particular by-election. Mr Sarwar argued this approach ignored 'the general mood music and the general momentum of a campaign going into next year'. He added: 'On the ground, people believe the SNP are done. They are sick to the back teeth of think they're a busted flush. They want them out.' Sir Keir sent his congratulations to Mr Russell on his 'fantastic victory.' In a post on social media, the Prime Minister said: 'People in Scotland have once again voted for change. 'Next year, there is a chance to turbo-charge delivery by putting Labour in power on both sides of the border. I look forward to working with you.' Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Swinney said: 'Clearly, we're disappointed that we didn't win last night, but we made progress in the election compared to the general election last summer, and we've got to build on that and make sure that we strengthen our support in advance of 2026. 'So the SNP made progress last night, but it's not nearly enough and we've got to build on that.' Asked if it was a mistake to call the by-election a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform, he said: 'I called it the way I saw it.' The First Minister argued the Labour vote had collapsed compared to last year's general election and 'we saw the Reform vote surging, which it has.' But Mr Neil, who served in Alex Salmond's and Nicola Sturgeon's Cabinets, tweeted: 'Poor by-election result for the SNP despite having the best candidate 'It shows that the opinion polls appear wide of the mark. Most importantly, it shows the current SNP leadership needs to be replaced urgently.' The SNP under Mr Swinney was also routed in last year's general election. Labour won the by-election with 8,559 votes (31.6 per cent), despite its vote share declining by two percentage points compared to the 2021 Holyrood election result in the seat. The SNP finished second with 7,957 votes (29.4 per cent), a huge drop in support compared to 2021, when Ms McKelvie won 46.2 per cent of the popular vote. Reform finished third with 7,088 votes (26.1 per cent), which Sir John noted was 'well above' the 19 per cent support recorded in Scotland-wide opinion polls, despite the seat not being 'particularly fertile ground for Nigel Farage's party.' Richard Tice, Reform's deputy leader, attended the count and insisted he was 'delighted' with the result. He said it was 'truly remarkable', adding: 'We've come from nowhere to being in a three-way marginal.' But the result was disastrous for the Scottish Tories, who won only 1,621 votes. Their vote share declined from 17.5 per cent in the 2021 election to only six per cent. 'A very competitive political environment' Speaking ahead of next week's Scottish Tory conference in Edinburgh, UK leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'Larkhall is not the place where the Conservative Party fightback starts'. She said it was 'interesting' that Reform was 'causing problems for all parties' and noted that 'we live in a very competitive political environment.' Miles Briggs, the shadow education secretary for the Scottish Tories, said the party knew it would be a 'difficult' by-election and blamed 'protest voting' for Reform and Labour. He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: 'We know what that challenge is and we have no doubt of the fight that we have to take forward into the election next year.'
The National
36 minutes ago
- The National
The SNP must not complain about Hamilton by-election humbling
'We cry to God Almighty, how can we escape this agony? Fool, don't you have hands? Or could it be God forgot to give you a pair? Sit and pray your nose doesn't run! Or, rather just wipe your nose and stop seeking a scapegoat.' – Epictetus I'm not preaching a religious message at you; you can ignore that part if you so wish. But this was the quote that came up in my Daily Stoic book for June 5, and I really felt that by the end of the Hamilton by-election it had become immensely relevant. Labour's Davy Russell, who had taken no part in any debates throughout the campaign and had had minimal interaction with the media, clinched a shock victory at South Lanarkshire Council HQ, gaining the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood seat from the SNP. The cheer was so loud journalists could not hear the exact number of votes Labour had received, but the fact it started with an eight was enough. The bookies had Labour in third place, and you could sense the relief as I heard one campaigner say: 'I actually feel quite emotional.' READ MORE: SNP activists reveal HQ silenced Reform strategy concerns Meanwhile, bullets have left guns slower than the SNP crew dispersed from the count floor. I wanted to hear from Katy Loudon, but she was nowhere to be seen. After a third defeat in a row – following her losses in Rutherglen at the 2023 by-election and General Election – you wonder whether it may be the last time we see her at a parliamentary count as a candidate. SNP minister Mairi McAllan (below) did, however, choose to criticise Labour's campaign as 'dreadful' in the aftermath, and that's where I feel Epictetus' words come in. (Image: PA) Yes, it was shocking Russell did not show up for debates, and it may seem unfair that after their popularity has plummeted so much on the back of countless broken promises they still won. But winners they are. That is sport sometimes. You don't always win by playing pretty. While Labour's tactics were risky and made Russell look like he was running scared, they seem to have played a clever game and protected their local candidate by going back to basics – chapping doors, speaking to people and figuring out exactly where their voters lived. Their Get Out the Vote campaign appeared to be hugely successful. READ MORE: How did Labour win Hamilton by-election with invisible man candidate? No matter what they might have thought of Labour's approach, all that matters is it worked, and the SNP simply cannot be overheard complaining. Their tactic of framing this as a two-horse race between them and Reform failed and perhaps it is proof that negative campaigning – positioning themselves as the only party that can beat Reform – is not going to work come the Holyrood election next year. By-elections are often outliers, and it is sometimes tricky to draw solid conclusions from them. What we can say is Reform are going to get MSPs next year and neither Labour nor the SNP can afford to be complacent. Labour, after all, won on less than a third of the vote. Both parties must keep a close eye on this new adversary but nor can they get too caught up in their web. The SNP became distracted by the new kids on the block and took their eye off their game in the process. It is time they focused on themselves and their message. If they can do that, the rest, they will hope, will take care of itself.
Rhyl Journal
37 minutes ago
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Liberty loses bid to bring legal action against equalities body
The UK's highest court ruled in April that the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex, after a challenge against the Scottish Government by campaign group For Women Scotland. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is consulting on proposed amendments to part of its guidance, after interim guidance was published last month related to trans people's use of certain spaces including toilets and participation in sports following the judgment. The commission increased the length of time for feedback from an original proposal of two weeks to six weeks, but campaign group Liberty said that it should be at least 12 weeks, claiming the current period would be 'wholly insufficient' and unlawful. Liberty made a bid to bring a legal challenge over the length of the consultation, but in a decision on Friday afternoon Mr Justice Swift said it was not arguable. In his ruling, Mr Justice Swift said: 'There is no 12-week rule. The requirements of fairness are measured in specifics and context is important.' 'I am not satisfied that it is arguable that the six-week consultation period that the EHRC has chosen to use is unfair,' he added. At the hearing on Friday, Sarah Hannett KC, for Liberty, said in written submissions that the Supreme Court's decision 'has altered the landscape radically and suddenly' and potentially changes the way trans people access single-sex spaces and services. The barrister said this included some businesses preventing trans women from using female toilets and trans men from using male toilets, as well as British Transport Police updating its policy on strip searches, which have caused 'understandable distress to trans people'. Ms Hannett said a six-week consultation period would be unlawful because the EHRC has not given 'sufficient time' for consultees to give 'intelligent consideration and an intelligent response'. She told the London court: 'There is a desire amongst the bigger trans organisations to assist the smaller trans organisations in responding… That is something that is going to take some time.' Later in her written submissions, the barrister described the trans community as 'particularly vulnerable and currently subject to intense scrutiny and frequent harassment'. Ms Hannett added: 'There is evidence of distrust of both consultation processes and the commission within the community.' Lawyers for the EHRC said the legal challenge should not go ahead and that six weeks was 'adequate'. James Goudie KC, for the commission, told the hearing there is 'no magic at all in 12 weeks'. He said in written submissions: 'Guidance consistent with the Supreme Court's decision has become urgently needed. The law as declared by the Supreme Court is not to come in at some future point. 'It applies now, and has been applying for some time.' The barrister later said that misinformation had been spreading about the judgment, adding that it was 'stoking what was already an often heated and divisive debate about gender in society'. He continued: 'The longer it takes for EHRC to issue final guidance in the form of the code, the greater the opportunity for misinformation and disinformation to take hold, to the detriment of persons with different protected characteristics.' Mr Goudie also said that there was a previous 12-week consultation on the guidance at large starting in October 2024. Following the ruling, EHRC chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner said the commission's approach 'has been fair and appropriate throughout'. She continued: 'Our six-week consultation period represents a balance between gathering comprehensive stakeholder input and addressing the urgent need for clarity. We're particularly encouraged by the thousands of consultation responses already received and look forward to further meaningful engagement through the rest of the process. 'The current climate of legal uncertainty and widespread misinformation serves nobody – particularly those with protected characteristics who rightly expect clarity about their rights. A swift resolution to this uncertainty will benefit everyone, including trans people.'
