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Daily Record
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Reform UK push Scottish Labour into third place in council by-election as SNP celebrate win
The result was described by one expert as "completely and utterly disastrous" for Labour. The SNP have won a local by-election in West Dunbartonshire, with Reform UK pushing Scottish Labour into third. Kevin Crawford came first in the Clydebank Waterfront ward after the resignation of the SNP incumbent. Elections expert Allan Faulds from the Ballot Box Scotland website said: 'Completely and utterly disastrous outcome for Labour here.' The result was effectively a hold for the SNP and the outcome confirmed the trend of Nigel Farage's party making sweeping gains at the expense of Labour. After first preferences, the SNP candidate was on 1059 votes, with Reform second on 768 and Labour in third on 739. The final result after stage eight of voting was the SNP on 1331, Reform UK behind on 919 and Labour trailing on 770 votes. Several Labour sources believe a similar trend is visible in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, and predict Farage's party will come second behind the SNP. A recent opinion poll also found Reform UK in line to win more seats than Labour at the next Holyrood election. Labour insiders admit the rise of Reform is harming the chances of Scottish party leader Anas Sarwar of becoming First Minister. This is a breaking news story - we'll bring you updates, pictures and video as it happens. Here you can get your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Record Online. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you. You can also check out our social media channels for live us on Twitter @Record_Politics for the latest news. Or you can catch all the action by following our team: @paulhutcheon, @andrewjquinn97 and @dennynews. We're on Facebook where you can join our Record Politics group for all our stories. We also have a weekly politics podcast, Planet Holyrood, which you can listen to Spotify or Apple music, or watch on the Daily Record YouTube channel. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok for the best bits of the podcast.
Daily Record
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Election expert warns of Conservative collapse in South Ayrshire amid scandal and rise of Reform
Ballot Box Scotland's Allan Faulds said that the rise of Nigel Farage's party was already seeing them as a threat to the Tories. One of Scotland's top political analysts has warned South Ayrshire Conservatives that they could face collapse at the next local elections. Allan Faulds, who runs the Ballot Box Scotland website, says that the issues within the party, which has lost four members over the last week, combined with the rise of Reform UK could see a changed landscape when voters go to the polls in 2027. While acknowledging that there are specific local issues at play, he said: 'In general terms, Reform UK are polling at a level that in the absence of any information about the spread of their vote across a given council area, they should be treated as in contention in every ward in South Ayrshire. 'Given only a handful of those have multiple Conservative councillors as-is, that risks a complete collapse in Conservative numbers in 2027. '[They] could end up going from being so dominant as to get three Ayr West councillors back in 2017, to just one in 2027 for example.' South Ayrshire Council is already unrecognisable from the make up in 2022. While the Conservatives picked up the most seats, their share of the votes dropped from 43 per cent in 2017 to 33 per cent. The SNP, which had formed a coalition with Labour to form the administration in 2017, actually secured the most votes, with an increase in share of 3.9 per cent. It retained its nine seats, as did Labour with its five seats. However, no agreement on a coalition was reached between the two, opening the door to a Conservative administration, supported by independents. Since then the SNP faced a torrid time, losing four councillors. One, then group leader Peter Henderson, retired, while three others left the party – Chris Cullen to Alba, Group Leader William Grant and Mark Dixon becoming independents. The Conservatives saw Councillor Stephen Ferry quit the party, before the mass exodus the party has seen over the last week. The resignations have seen the number of independents swell. In 2017 there were just two, Councillors Alec Clark and Brian Connolly. This doubled in 2022, but now stands at 10 (11 if you take the sole Alba councillor Chris Cullen). South Ayrshire Council seats Independents 10 Conservatives 7 SNP 5 Labour 5 Alba 1
