BY-ELECTIONS have a particular place in Scottish political history, especially for the pro-independence movement. Starting in 1945 the SNP won its first ever parliamentary seat with the election of Dr Robert McIntyre in Motherwell. It took 22 years for the SNP to win its next seat, with the historic 1967 victory of Winnie Ewing in Hamilton. In 1973 Margo MacDonald won the famous Govan by-election, the same constituency that would return Jim Sillars in another historic SNP by-election victory in 1988.
Less attention has been paid to the role of local government by-elections, the importance of which has often been overlooked as bellwether contests, showing the mood of a wider electorate, or pre-empting political changes in the air.
Just after I joined the SNP as a youngster in Edinburgh in the mid-1980s, I remember road trips to Inverkeithing to help out in a by-election for then Labour dominated Fife Council. Together with fellow youngsters like Rob Munn we leafletted and canvassed in our first proper, professional campaign and very much to our pleasant surprise, the SNP won. In general though, things were not great with the SNP, coming in fourth in terms of seats in the 1986 regional elections, although securing second place in terms of votes.
Arguably, the Inverkeithing by-election was the beginning of the SNP challenge in Fife which has since become so strong that the SNP has the most seats in the council, leads the coalition administration, and holds almost most of the parliamentary seats in the Kingdom as well.
READ MORE: SNP take Labour's longtime seat in Leith by-election
My next big straw in the wind from a local government by-election was in the far north of the country when the SNP’s Gail Ross won in Wick in 2011. As the SNP campaign director, I travelled north to see what was happening on the ground, to see whether what was happening there might give an inkling of what might happen in the then forthcoming 2011 Scottish parliamentary election.
In a constituency previously dominated by the LibDems, Gail was elected, with the LibDem candidate in fourth place. The SNP would go on to win an absolute majority in Holyrood and Gail has gone on since to become the constituency’s SNP MSP.
Given these previous experiences, it was a joy to be out campaigning recently in Leith Walk and for Rob Munn to be elected to the City of Edinburgh Council. Having joined the SNP at the same time in the 1980s, I have known Rob for a long time, and know him to be extremely hard-working and committed to his native Leith.
SNP’s winning candidate Rob Munn and Greens’ Lorna Slater
For weeks SNP volunteers ran a professional campaign, leafletting and canvassing in big numbers. Rob didn’t spare any time away from the campaign trail and worked extremely hard.
When I was out on polling day on Thursday it was pretty clear that the work was paying off. People knew Rob, liked him and were going to vote for him.
Accompanied by an Austrian journalist from Der Standard newspaper, who was reporting from London, Blackpool and Edinburgh on Brexit Britain, we climbed up tenement stairs as I tried to encourage supporters to exercise their vote. He was struck by the international nature of the SNP team: the Canadian-born candidate, the Dutch-born SNP councillor who was helping out, the ex-SNP councillor originally from England. Next he was struck by the SNP voters: the young and old folk coming out of the polling place wishing Rob good luck, the young woman wearing a Hijab handing over her SNP voter card, the eastern European couples turning up to vote for the pro-European SNP candidate.
When all the votes were counted, Rob won on the night, increasing the SNP vote and gaining the seat from Labour. Not only that, but the pro-independence Greens came second, while Labour lost 7%, coming third, and the Tories lost 4% and came in fourth. Not only did the pro-independence candidates secure more than 60% of the vote, but now Leith Walk becomes the first seat where all four councillors are pro-independence. It is also true that it was the anti-Brexit parties that saw their vote go up, while it was the Brexit partners of Labour and the Tories that lost.
Experts are correct to warn against reading too much into by-elections, whether parliamentary or for local government. It is right not to extrapolate or make wild predictions about what that will mean in other future contests.
What is definitely true, however, is that if you pick a great candidate, work really hard and take nothing for granted, you have the best chances of success. I know that Rob Munn will make an excellent councillor for everyone in Leith Walk ward. He is committed to the community and to its interests. Having once already represented Leith on Edinburgh council he will bring his considerable experience to the SNP-led administration of our capital city and I wish him well.
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