SCOTTISH Labour has seen its vote crash dramatically in a council by-election.
Richard Leonard's party saw their vote share drop by about 12 percentage points to 8.1%, compared to the previous election for the seat.
The Scottish Tories held onto the seat in Clackmannanshire where candidate Denis Coyne won 51% of the vote, an increase of almost 10 percentage points from the previous election.
Due to be held in March, the poll for the Clackmannanshire East seat was rescheduled after the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland and held yesterday.
SNP candidate Stephen Leitch was second with 32% of the vote in an election with a turnout of just 35.1% - a total of 2395 votes cast.
The Scottish Greens and LibDems finished on 5.8% and 2.9% respectively.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross heralded Coyne's win, saying he will be a "great councillor" for the area.
He added: "With the Scottish Conservatives securing over half the vote, this is further evidence that we are the only party with the strength to stand up to the SNP.
"Voters are deserting Scottish Labour in their droves and know they are simply too weak to take on the SNP."
The win comes ahead of the Scottish Tory conference this weekend, with the event being overshadowed by comments on Monday from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who described devolution as a "disaster".
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