LABOUR has won a seat from the Scottish Liberal Democrats in a by-election in East Dunbartonshire.
Councillor Aidan Marshall has been elected to represent Kirkitilloch East, North and Twechar.
Marshall was elected at stage six under the single transferable vote system, with the Labour candidate picking up 958 first preference votes.
The SNP’s Serina Marshall picked up 726 of the total first preference votes, Marthos Christoforou from the Scottish Liberal Democrats got 677 first preferences.
Bruce Hampton of Reform UK scored 476 first preferences, beating out Satbir Kaur Gill’s 131 votes for the Conservative and Unionist party.
The lowest scoring party was Sovereignty’s Alan McManus, who managed 18 votes. The party is pro-independence and pro-Brexit.
This election marks the sixth council by-election victory for Scottish Labour over the past 12 months in West Scotland.
Kirkitilloch East, North and Twechar (East Dunbartonshire) by-election, first preferences: Lab: 958 (30.2%, +1.0) SNP: 726 (22.9%, -16.0) Lib Dem: 677 (21.3%, +2.6) RUK: 476 (15%, new) Con: 131 (4.1%, -7.8) Grn: 128 (4%, new) Alba: 63 (2%, new) Sovereignty: 18 (0.6%, new) Labour elected stage TBC.[image or embed]
— Ballot Box Scotland (@ballotbox.scot) 13 February 2025 at 23:51
Congratulating the new councillor, MP for Rutherglen and energy minister Michael Shanks said on Twitter/X: “Fantastic win! Genuinely can’t think of a more hard working, dedicated champion for his community.”
He continued: “What a result for Scottish Labour and for Kirkintilloch and Twechar!”
The councillor also received congratulatory messages from Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland who said on social media: “Huge congratulations to [Aidan Marshall]! Ahead from the first stage and will make brilliant councillor.”
The turnout was 26.2%, with 3228 ballots cast, down 18.3% from the last council election held.
There were 51 rejected ballot papers.
This election result comes as Labour continues to publicise its stance on immigration, as the party prepares to release videos of deportations.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has also recently been accused of “trying to pretend to be the SNP” after the Scottish Labour leader came out in support for several of the party’s policies including free tuition fees, free prescriptions and free school lunches.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the seat was previously held by the SNP. This was inaccurate and has now been updated.
