Latest news with #McKelvie
STV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
Labour wins crucial Hamilton by-election
Scottish Labour candidate Davy Russell has been elected MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse. Turnout was announced as 44.2%, with a total of 27,155 votes cast on Thursday out of a possible electorate of 61,485. Labour have managed to take the seat from the SNP despite the First Minister calling it a 'straight contest' between SNP and Reform UK on the campaign trail – dismissing Russell from the running. Russell was previously accused of running a 'car crash campaign' after refusing to participate in an STV debate. Lambie subsequently accused his opponent of being the 'invisible man' and 'running scared'. But Reform's Scottish breakthrough in Hamilton failed to materialise, and voters in the region turned against the SNP. In 2021, the region cast 36,394 votes and ultimately re-elected long-standing SNP MSP Christina McKelvie for the third time. She comfortably won the seat with 14,924 votes, making up 41% of the vote. McKelvie's Scottish Labour opponent was the runner up, with 25% of the vote (9,187). Reform UK, which until recently was considered a fringe political party, scored only 58 votes for its candidate in 2021. The seat in South Lanarkshire was vacated following McKelvie's death in April. McKelvie announced in August last year that she would be taking medical leave due to treatment for secondary breast cancer. She died at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on March 27, aged 57. More to follow. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
STV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
Polls close in crucial Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election
Polls have closed in the crucial Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. The votes are now being manually counted and verified at South Lanarkshire Council's headquarters in Hamilton. A result is expected in the early hours of Friday morning. The seat in South Lanarkshire was vacated following the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie. McKelvie announced in August last year that she would be taking medical leave due to treatment for secondary breast cancer. She died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in March, aged 57. Her successor to represent the seat in the Scottish Parliament will be announced on Friday after all votes are counted. Polling stations opened at 7am on Thursday and closed at 10pm. Candidate name Party Collette Bradley Scottish Socialist Party Andy Brady Scottish Family Party Ross Alexander Lambie Reform UK Katy Loudon Scottish National Party (SNP) Janice Elizabeth Mackay UK Independence Party (UKIP) Ann McGuinness Scottish Green Party Aisha Jawaid Mir Scottish Liberal Democrats Richard Nelson Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Davy Russell Scottish Labour Party Marc Wilkinson Independent Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
STV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
Voters go to the polls in crucial Hamilton by-election
Voters are going to the polls in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. The seat in South Lanarkshire was vacated following the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie. McKelvie announced in August last year that she would be taking medical leave due to treatment for secondary breast cancer. She died at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on March 27, aged 57. Her successor to represent the seat at the Scottish Parliament will be announced on Friday after votes are counted. Polling stations opened at 7am on Thursday and will remain open until 10pm. To be eligible to vote in the election, you must be aged 16 or over and have registered to vote before midnight on Monday, May 19. You will not need to bring photo identification to vote in the Scottish Parliamentary by-election on Thursday. Information about polling stations should be included on your polling card, but can be found online on the Electoral Commission's website here by typing in your postcode. The votes will be verified and manually counted at the close of the poll on Thursday at the South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters in Hamilton. Candidate name Party Collette Bradley Scottish Socialist Party Andy Brady Scottish Family Party Ross Alexander Lambie Reform UK Katy Loudon Scottish National Party (SNP) Janice Elizabeth Mackay UK Independence Party (UKIP) Ann McGuinness Scottish Green Party Aisha Jawaid Mir Scottish Liberal Democrats Richard Nelson Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Davy Russell Scottish Labour Party Marc Wilkinson Independent Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
STV News
6 days ago
- General
- STV News
Hamilton by-election: What was the result last time voters went to the polls?
Candidates from SNP, Scottish Labour, Tories, and Reform are battling it out on the last day of campaigning before the Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election on Thursday. Both SNP and Reform UK have said it's a 'straight contest' between their candidates, with both dismissing Scottish Labour candidate Davy Russell from the running. But if these predictions are true, it would represent a massive change since the last Holyrood election in 2021, when Reform UK scored just 0.2% of votes in the region. In 2021, the region cast 36,394 votes and ultimately re-elected long-standing SNP MSP Christina McKelvie for the third time. She comfortably won the seat with 14,924 votes, making up 41% of the vote. McKelvie's Scottish Labour opponent was the runner up, with 25% of the vote (9,187). The Tory party scored 22% of votes (7,925). Reform UK, which until recently was considered a fringe political party, scored only 58 votes for its candidate in 2021. However, those political allegiances could all change this week. Voters in Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse will head to the polls on Thursday to cast their votes for a new MSP at Holyrood. It follows the death of McKelvie in March, which triggered the by-election. SNP candidate Katy Loudon will be fighting to hold the seat for the party. Loudon will go head to head with Scottish Labour candidate Davy Russell, Reform UK candidate Ross Lambie, Tory candidate Richard Nelson, and others. McKelvie's successor to represent the seat at the Scottish Parliament will be announced in the early hours of Friday morning after votes are counted. The vote will take place on Thursday, June 5 with polling stations open between 7am and 10pm. Candidate name Party Collette Bradley Scottish Socialist Party Andy Brady Scottish Family Party Ross Alexander Lambie Reform UK Katy Loudon Scottish National Party (SNP) Janice Elizabeth Mackay UK Independence Party (UKIP) Ann McGuinness Scottish Green Party Aisha Jawaid Mir Scottish Liberal Democrats Richard Nelson Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Davy Russell Scottish Labour Party Marc Wilkinson Independent Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Hamilton by-election: What you need to know before the vote
Ms McKelvie, who took medical leave last August to undergo treatment for secondary breast cancer, passed away at the end of March. Powerful and emotional tributes were made to her in Holyrood by politicians across the political divide. She had represented the constituency since 2011 when she defeated former Scottish Labour minister Tom McCabe. Prior to becoming the MSP for the seat she was a SNP MSP for the Central Scotland region from 2007 to 2011. Ms McKelvie won the seat again at the 2016 and 2021 Holyrood elections beating Labour's Monica Lennon in 2021 by 16,761 to 12,179 votes. The late SNP MSP Christina McKelvie. (Image: PA) At the outset of the current by-election contest, commentators believed it would be a "two horse race" between the SNP frontrunners and Labour. But in what has been an unexpected twist Nigel Farage's Reform UK has been campaigning hard in the area and seemingly building support - buoyed by its success in the English local elections and a Westminster by-election victory in Runcorn earlier this month. Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice has been on the stump in Larkhall and Hamilton, declaring the race as one between Reform and John Swinney's SNP. Reform UK leader Mr Farage is expected to visit Hamilton in the days leading up to the vote. It will be his first visit to Scotland since 2019. SNP leader John Swinney campaigning with candidate Katy Loudon in Hamilton on Monday (Image: Colin Mearns) Heavy security is expected to accompany Mr Farage on the campaign trail after the populist Euro sceptic had to be confined to a pub in Edinburgh in 2013 for his own protection amid protests from students, anti-racist activists and independence supporters. The politician, then the leader of UKIP, was finally whisked away in a police riot van. The episode prompted Mr Tice to remark last year that Scotland was "too dangerous" for Mr Farage when asked why the party leader had not travelled to Perth for Reform's Scottish conference. Mr Farage later rejected the claim. With considerable press attention being given to the contest and excitement about what could happen, the by-election is already being talked about as one that Scots across the country will be talking about for a long long time. So much so that people are comparing it to another by-election in Hamilton almost 60 years ago. That race has gone down in the history books. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice being interviewed by The Herald's Kathleen Nutt (Image: Gordon terris/Herald&Times) On November 2, 1967 Winnie Ewing - mother of the SNP MSPs Fergus and Annabelle Ewing - won a surprise victory for the SNP over Labour in what had been a safe Westminster seat for the latter. The SNP had not even contested the seat at the previous general election in 1966 so pessimistic was the party's chances of success. But the Hamilton by-election gave the SNP a voice in Westminster - where it was represented by the sole young charismatic female MP. 'I certainly was an expert at being in a minority, for there was only me," she later wrote. Winne Ewing was the second MP ever to be elected for the SNP - the first being Dr Robert McIntyre in 1945. After her victory was declared, Ms Ewing famously said to the crowd outside "Stop the World, Scotland wants to get on." Prior to the by-election, the SNP had been a peripheral movement in Scottish politics but Ms Ewing's triumph enabled the party to build on her success. Can the same happen to Reform next week? Could Nigel Farage's party get its first seat in Holyrood and if so will the presence of a Reform MSP change Scottish politics or will the excitement turn out to be empty hype? Polling stations across Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse will be open from 7am and 10pm. Eligible voters must be aged 16 or over and must be registered to vote by midnight on Monday 19 May 2025. Voting takes place using the first-past-the-post voting system with the candidate who gets the most votes becoming the MSP for the constituency. Voters should put a cross (X) on the ballot paper next to their preferred option. The votes will be verified and manually counted from 10pm at the close of poll on 5 June at South Lanarkshire Council headquarters in Hamilton. The result in expected early on June 6.
