REMAIN parties have increased their vote share in a Scottish by-election, in a possible omen for next month’s European elections.
The SNP won the Leith Walk by-election in Edinburgh, with the Scottish Greens moving from third to second place.
The Liberal Democrats also saw their vote share more than double in the 11-way contest.
All three parties are calling for a People's Vote on Brexit.
The biggest losers were Scottish Labour, whose leader Richard Leonard supports Brexit despite the Scottish public overwhelming rejecting it, and the Scottish Conservatives.
Mr Leonard said in February that he would prefer a Labour Brexit to a second referendum with Remain on the ballot, despite 62 per cent of Scots voting to stay in the EU in 2016.
A Labour insider said: "This is a disastrous result and should act as an urgent wake up call for the leadership.
"Voters punished us because of our failure to fight Brexit, and if we don't act swiftly it'll be the same across the country in the European elections."
The SNP’s Rob Munn was elected with 35.7% of the vote (+1.4 points on 2017), the Greens on 25.5% (+5.9), Labour 15.5% (-7), the Tories 10.7% (-3.7%) and LibDems 8.6% (+4.8).
The byelection was caused by the resignation of Labour councillor Marion Donaldson.
Turnout was 30.3%, with 7267 votes cast.
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said it was party’s third by-election win in a row.
He said: “Many congratulations to Rob Munn for this fantastic victory.
“Rob will join a strong SNP group who are delivering for local communities and vital public services in Edinburgh, protecting them from the worst of Tory cuts.
“Despite the Tories throwing the kitchen sink at this by-election, the SNP comfortably topped the poll.
"This goes to show how far the Tories and Labour have fallen. In a Remain-voting ward, it’s no wonder both parties were trounced.
“This latest result is a strong vote of confidence in the SNP in Edinburgh, and is the testament to the hard work of our candidate and activists in Leith.”
Cllr Munn said: “I am absolutely delighted to be elected as councillor for Leith Walk, and I’ll work to deliver the very best for all people in the ward and across the city of Edinburgh.
“I’m looking forward to representing the people of Leith, and being a strong and responsive voice for the community.”
The Scottish Greens said their showing put them on course to elect their first MEP.
Co-convenor Patrick Harvie said: “The result in Leith Walk is a tremendous lift for Greens ahead of European elections and huge credit goes to the brilliant Lorna Slater who ran a superb campaign.
“It’s clear that there’s strong support for our inspiring vision for rebuilding democracy, locally and across Europe, so that we can tackle the climate crisis, lift people out of poverty and create a welcoming society which rejects far-right populism.
“At the last European elections Greens narrowly missed out on our first Scottish MEP to an extremist UKIP candidate whose campaign was flooded with cash and who was given a hugely disproportionate media platform. By making the positive case for Scotland’s place in Europe we’re determined that won’t happen again.”
The European elections are due to take place on May 23 unless Theresa May can get her thrice-rejected Brexit deal through Westminster or MPs agree on an alternative.
EU leaders this week granted the UK a second extension to Article 50 until October 31, with the option to cut it short if an elusive deal could be found sooner.
At the last EU poll in 2014, the SNP and Labour won two MEPs each in Scotland, and the Tories and Ukip one each.
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