I have been in Scotland 11 months now and today I am shouting from the rooftops.
Today we have won two by-elections, not that we shouldn’t shout more often when we do win these but these two are particularly important for us in Scotland.
One was Inverness West ward, in Danny Alexander’s seat and although the SNP came second, we won this by-election on the first round with 60% of the vote and there was a 22% swing to us from the SNP and the Conservatives came a dismal 5th. So a fantastic result for Councillor Alasdair Christie, Danny Alexander MP and the amazing team in the Highlands.
The second by-election was in Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside where Councillor Rosemary Bruce has won the by-election today. Labour didn’t even bother to field a candidate and the SNP were pushed into 4th place by an Independent candidate.
Again a fantastic result for Councillor Rosemary Bruce, Robert Smith MP and the amazing team in Aberdeenshire.
As we set out our stall for the European Elections these results are a great start and follow on from the excellent work that Elspeth Attwooll has achieved over the last ten years.
Tavish Scott, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats said:
“This sends a very strong message to the SNP Government that ignoring the needs of Inverness and ripping up manifesto commitments don’t wash. We expect the Government to listen to the verdict of the people and get on with supporting improvements in the Highland area.
“The SNP, for all their big talk, were hammered in Inverness.
“The Tories threw everything at the Aboyne by-election, but were still beaten by a strong local Lib Dem campaign.
“This is a fantastic day for Liberal Democrats. Two by-election victories are a real boost as we head into the European elections.”
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4 Comments
As well as the excellent results in Scotland it’s worth noting some brilliant results in England too.
We have gained a seat from Labour in Wycombe with a 36% increase in the Lib Dem vote (which bodes well for the county council elections in Buckinghamshire). Congratulations to Cllr Steve Guy and his team.
We also had a 17% increase in our vote in the London Borough of Redbridge, which will do no harm to our chances in Leyton & Wanstead at the General Election and next year’s locals in London. As well as a 14% increase in our vote in the Borough of Waverley which will boost Sue Doughty’s hopes of returning as the MP for Guildford.
Well done one and all!
And, almost as pleasing was the BNP’s 1.2% in Aboyne. [Yes, 1.2% too high, but you know what I mean]
Alasdair Christie was a Councillor for the Goldington Ward on Bedford Borough for many years and was Group Leader for several of them.
Good to see him “back in the Lib Dem fold” after several years away.
Alasdair Christie was a Councillor for over 12 years and group leader for over 7 of them on both County and Borough Council I think.