SCOTTISH Labour have taken a seat from the SNP after a victory in a council by-election.
A vote was held in the Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig ward of North Lanarkshire Council after former SNP representative Agnes Magowan stepped down in August, citing reasons of family health.
The ballot to replace Magowan was held on Thursday, with votes being tallied and counted a little before midnight.
The winner was confirmed as Kaye Harmon from Scottish Labour.
Harmon won 1368 of the first preference votes, beating Rosa Zambonini from the SNP who earned 934 votes.
Motherwell South East & Ravenscraig (North Lanarkshire) By-Election Result [First Prefs]: 🌹 LAB: 44.0% (+12.8) 🎗️ SNP: 30.1% (-12.7) 🌳 CON: 9.5% (-7.1) 🌍 GRN: 8.2% (+0.4) 💂♀️ BUP: 3.1% (New) 🔶 LDM: 2.2% (New) 🔷 ALBA: 2.1% (New) 💷 UKIP: 0.8% (+0.1) No SFP (-0.9) as…
— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) November 16, 2023
According to Election Maps UK, the SNP lost 12.7% of their vote share while Labour gained 12.8%.
The Tories came in third with 296 votes, while the Greens were close behind on 155.
Alba and the LibDems were also close, with the pro-independence party tallying 66 votes to the Unionist party’s 68.
The British Unionist party, which has one seat on North Lanarkshire Council, won 96 votes.
A total of 48 ballots were rejected while 3107 first preference votes were cast. There was a turnout of 20%.
SNP candidate Zambonini wrote on Twitter after the result: "A 20% turnout is so upsetting, not because of my defeat but it means that 80% of that community either felt disengaged or completely done with politics.
"Many said they didn’t know it was on, also a problem. However as a political activists EVERY party has to wake up."
Returning officer Des Murray said: “I would like to congratulate Kaye Harmon on her election, and I look forward to seeing her at the next council meeting.”
The victory was welcomed by Scottish Labour’s newest MP, Michael Shanks.
“Another phenomenal Lanarkshire result! Well done to the whole team and to another great new Labour Cllr, Kaye Harmon!” he wrote on Twitter/X.
North Lanarkshire Council was run by an SNP administration for the first time after the 2022 local elections.
However, the SNP group was racked with controversy and its leader, Jordan Linden, was forced to resign over historic allegations of sexual misconduct.
Scottish Labour took control of the council as a minority administration, and the additional seat won in the by-election will strengthen its position. They now have 34 councillors on the local authority.
