The SNP's onward march in local by-elections in Scotland since the general election in May continued in the latest contests coinciding with new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's visit north of the border.
In the first two results from seven Scottish council polls, the nationalists held council seats at Fife and East Ayrshire and still took ground in vote shares from Labour.
But the swings in its favour were smaller than those seen at the May polls and in many other local contests since then.
At Fife (Glenrothes West & Kinglassie), first-preference voting was: SNP 2,235, Lab 1,207, C 234, Green 113. Swing from Labour to SNP 12.9%.
At East (Irvine Valley), first-count voting was: SNP 1,797, C 865, Lab 860, Green 88. Swing from Labour to SNP 5.8%.
In a third contest, the SNP held a seat at Stirling (Stirling East), where the final vote tallies - after transfers - were: SNP 1,388, Lab 1,272, C 352, Green 152.
Further council by-election results are due later from Aberdeen (two seats), Moray and West Lothian.
Swings of between 13% and 25% from Labour to the SNP were recorded in Scottish council by-elections in June and July after Labour was reduced to just one MP north of the border in May.
But local contests last month saw reduced swings of 6% and 8%, while Labour had a success in taking a council seat from the Greens in Edinburgh.
The latest by-elections include four that were prompted by the resignation as councillors of SNP MPs newly elected at the general election: at East Ayrshire, where former councillor Alan Brown is now MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun; Fife - Peter Grant (Glenrothes); Stirling - Steven Paterson (Stirling); and West Lothian - Martyn Day (Linlithgow and Falkirk East).
The first-round voting figures in the Stirling council by-election released later were: SNP 1,311, Lab 1,094, C 343, Green 152. Swing from Labour to SNP was 9.4%.
The SNP gained one Aberdeen City Council seat from independent, originally elected as Conservative, and held another.
First-preference voting in the Midstocket/Rosemount ward where the independent councillor had resigned was: SNP 1,168, C 672, Lab 605, LD 238, Green 170.
First-count voting in George Street/Harbour, in a contest that followed the resignation of an SNP councillor, was: SNP 961, Lab 490, C 195, Green 136, LD 96. Swing from Labour to SNP 11.5%.
An independent candidate held off an SNP challenge to win a Moray Council by-election following the resignation of an independent councillor.
First-count voting in the Heldon & Laich contest was: Ind 1,323, SNP 1,003, C 703, Green 192.
The result means there is no change to the council line-up, where no party is in overall control. The council is run by a group of independents and Conservatives.
In the remaining by-election, the SNP held a seat on West Lothian Council.
First-preference voting in the Linlithgow ward poll was: SNP 2,049, Lab 1,088, C 973, Green 282, Ind 230, LD 133.
The swing from the Conservatives to the SNP was 7%. The Tories were in second place by vote share in the 2012 elections when three seats were up for election in the ward and one SNP, one Conservative and one Labour councillor were elected.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, on Twitter, hailed her party's wins in six of the seven Scottish council by-elections and thanked voters "for putting trust in us".
Page 6: 17:23
SNP business convenor Derek MacKay congratulated the six new SNP councillors on "their stunning by-election success".
He said in a statement the results showed, "despite a change of leader both north and south of the border, Labour's support in Scotland continues to fall".
Mr MacKay declared: "We have seen this week that Labour is a bitterly divided party whose position on fundamental issues such as Trident, austerity and devolution remains as confused as ever - it is no wonder that people in Scotland don't even view them as a credible opposition - let alone a credible party of government."
He added the SNP would work hard to retain voters' trust and secure the re-election of an SNP government next May.
Labour's vote share fell in five of the seven Scottish council by-elections but rose slightly in West Lothian. The party did not contest the Moray poll.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel