THE Liberal Democrats defied their critics to hold on to Orkney with more than 7,000 votes for Liam McArthur.
His majority of 4,354 was up by nearly a third on the last Scottish Parliament election.
Donna Heddle, the SNP candidate was in second place, polling 2,562 votes.
The Tory, Labour and Independent candidates trailed with votes counted in the hundreds.
Support for McArthur rose sharply despite his party being branded the Lie-Dems after the court case involving MP Alistair Carmichael.
McArthur said it had been a “remarkable” campaign.
Speaking after the result, Carmichael said he had no fears that his involvement in Frenchgate would damage the local Holyrood candidate.
He said: “I have always believed that people on Orkney and Shetland would vote on the best interests of the community here. When you’ve got a first rate MSP like Liam McArthur you’re not going to give that up lightly.”
Discussing the SNP push on the constituency, Carmichael said he hoped his rivals had “learned their lesson”, adding: “If they want to start making progress in a community like Orkney then they have to start treating Orkney more fairly.”
In Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire the SNP’s Clare Haughey wrested the seat from Labour’s James Kelly by 15,222 votes to 11,479 – a majority of 3,743.
Kelly hit the headlines at the end of last year when he was ejected from the Holyrood chamber after an argument with Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.
The Tories came third with 3,718 votes and the LibDems were in fourth place with 2,533.
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