Reform beat Labour to second place in Clydebank by-election
Nigel Farage has declared his party is 'becoming the opposition to the SNP' after Reform UK pushed Labour into third place in a council by-election in Clydebank.
The right-wing party's David Smith won 26 per cent of the vote in the Clydebank Waterfront ward on West Dunbartonshire council — edging out Labour by 1 percentage point, while the Conservatives took just 3 per cent. The SNP held the seat with 36 per cent of first-preference votes.
The result, three weeks before the first Holyrood by-election this parliament on June 5, will alarm Labour Party figures who fear embarrassment in the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse constituency vote, which was called after the death of Christina McKelvie.
• Can Reform win in Scotland? The Farage juggernaut
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