Scottish Labour has won two council seats in North Lanarkshire in by-elections which will buoy the party even further after a highly successful first week for Anas Sarwar’s leadership.
Peter Kelly won in Fortissat ward, which includes the town of Shotts and surrounding villages, and Helen Loughran won in Thorniewood ward, which covers Viewpark, Tannochside and Birkenshaw.
Both by-elections were caused by the resignations of sitting councillors, and both were nominally gains from the SNP although the previous Fortissat councillor had left that party after he was elected and had sat as an independent for some time.
By-elections under STV are effectively AV elections and the resulting compositions of the wards therefore do not necessarily reflect what would happen if all councillor positions in the wards were up for election at the same time.
These results mean North Lanarkshire Labour has won six by-elections in a row since 2017, and cements their control over the local administration.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said:
“This is a fantastic result at the end of a week where we have demonstrated that we’re listening to the people of Scotland and we’re focused on our shared priorities.
Labour councillors across Scotland are working every day to support their local communities through the pandemic.
We are working hard to unite Scotland with a clear focus on recovery from the pandemic, so that together we can rebuild Scotland.”
So, the last by-Election in 2017 in Fortissat, Labour beat the SNP by 18%. This week’s by-election, Labour beats the SNP by 2%. Not sure Anas Sarwar will be celebrating as all that much.
And the same pattern in Thorniewood. Labour beat SNP by 12% in 2016 but only by 2% this week.