A LABOUR candidate who styled himself as the “handsome granda” has won an Aberdeen council by-election.
We previously revealed how Graeme Lawrence puzzled voters when he included his bizarre personal email address on campaign materials.
Social media users were baffled when they spotted leaflets for the new Labour councillor for Dyce, Bucksburn and Danestone featured his email address of handsomegranda@hotmail.co.uk on his official election literature.
🏀Decades of youth basketball coaching means that Graeme knows a foul when he sees one. Today's by-election in Dyce, Bucksburn & Danestone is a two-horse race between Labour's Graeme Lawrence and the SNP candidate. Let's send the SNP a message. pic.twitter.com/K22uOu4iRa
— Aberdeen Labour (@AberdeenLabour) February 23, 2023
But voters were undeterred and Lawrence was returned to office after eight rounds of counting.
At stage one, he was second to the SNP candidate Tomasz Brzezinski, who received 1455 first preference votes to Lawrence’s 1227. The quota for candidates to be elected was 2363.
Some 4772 votes were cast on a turnout of 28.2% in the Aberdeen suburb.
Lawrence previously served as an Aberdeen councillor between 2012 and 2017 and served on the board of council sport and leisure body Sport Aberdeen.
One Twitter user said his odd email address was “unprofessional and hilarious”.
Andi Watson, who first spotted the email address, said: “I cannot take anyone let alone an [Aberdeen Labour] candidate seriously with this email address! Surely someone must have said no you can’t use that!”
Aberdeen Labour posted a video of Lawrence on polling day with the caption: “Decades of youth basketball coaching means that Graeme knows a foul when he sees one.”
In a reference to the party’s ongoing leadership race, Lawrence said he was “calling time” on the SNP and blew a referee’s whistle.
He said: “The SNP are falling apart. It’s a two-horse race in the by-election between me, Graeme Lawrence, and the SNP candidate.
“I’m calling time on the SNP. Give me your first preference vote in the by-election.”
