THE SNP have secured a by-election win in Perth with its share of the vote up by 12.8% to more than 60% overall.
Ian Massie was elected to the Perth City North ward, replacing Dave Doogan who is now the MP for Angus.
The Tories saw their vote share down by 2.5%, coming in second place with 22.9% in total. Labour’s vote dropped by 6.2% leaving them in third place, while the LibDems and Greens came fourth and fifth respectively.
The SNP’s longest serving MP Pete Wishart said it was a “fantastic result” for the party, while Doogan praised Massie’s “outstanding” win.
Well done to new @theSNP councillor @ianmassie1 and all the team https://t.co/1P99tg2mtj
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) November 27, 2020
The First Minister also celebrated the win, telling the new councillor and his team “well done”.
After his win, Massie commented: “I am delighted the people of Perth City North have put their faith in me to represent them at Perth and Kinross Council.
“Dave Doogan MP did a fantastic job as the previous councillor for this area and I will continue his great work alongside my fellow SNP ward councillor John Rebbeck.
“This result demonstrates that the people of Perth City North have faith in the SNP to deliver for hard-working families as we are doing across the country. Not only did we win the election, but we increased our voting margin significantly too."
Meanwhile, the SNP MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire Roseanna Cunningham congratulated Massie.
"I am delighted the people in the ward have decided it is the SNP who will continue to deliver for communities and put their interests first," she said.
“The SNP continues to build momentum towards the 2021 election and I am optimistic we can continue our fantastic run of performances in by-elections recently and translate that into an SNP majority at Holyrood.”
The vote was held at the same time as the neighbouring Perth City South by-election, which saw the LibDems take a seat from the SNP.
Liz Barrett secured the win, coming first ahead of the SNP’s Iain MacPherson and the Tories’ Andy Chan.
The council continues to be dominated by the Tories, who have 17 councillors, with the SNP the second largest party with 14 representatives. The LibDems now have five councillors.
The result had been deemed too close to call by pollsters with a tight race between the three parties.
The Perth City South by-election was called followed the death of Bob Band, who had a long battle with cancer.
Tributes were paid to the former SNP councillor in March, with the party’s Perth Council group leader describing Band as “one of life’s true gentlemen”.
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