The Liberal Democrats have held on to win the Shetland by-election, despite a high-profile SNP campaign to win the Holyrood constituency.
The Lib Dems obtained 5,659 votes, ahead of the SNP on 3,827, given them a majority of 1,837.
In a fiercely fought election, Beatrice Wishart was elected as the new MSP, but the Lib Dem majority was more than halved from 4,895 in 2016 with the SNP gaining a 14.4% swing.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been to every corner of Shetland, speaking to people about the challenges they and their communities face and I’m proud of the positive campaign the Liberal Democrats have run.
— Beatrice Wishart (@BeatriceWishart) August 29, 2019
The turnout was 66.5%, up from 62% in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election with 11,835 votes cast.
READ MORE: Tom Gordon: SNP could win in Shetland, but pay for it at Holyrood
Speaking after the result Ms Wishard said: “Shetland has once again rejected Scottish nationalism and shows that it is not taken in by the bullyboy tactics in order to get what is fair for this community.
“I shall be going down to Holyrood at the beginning of the week and shall be putting the issues to the Scottish government that have been raised at the doorstep.
“My work will start on Monday to get Scottish Government to take action on its empty promises such as fair ferry funding, to improve nursery provision, mental health care and broadband which were key strands of my positive campaign.”
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP campaigned hard in a bid to win the seat, with the First Minister visiting the islands on several occasions.
The Holyrood by-election was sparked by the resignation of Mr Scott, who quit politics in July to join Scottish Rugby. He had held the seat since devolution began in 1999.
READ MORE: Will SNP efforts to unseat Lib Dems be enough for Shetland by-election victory
SNP candidate Tom Wills said that the result showed the SNP vote in Shetland was heading in the right direction saying: “It was my first time standing for anything for the SNP but it was our best result here so I am not going to beat myself up too much.
“I was not counting my chickens – there were so many unknowns with 10 candidates – there was a big range of candidates.”
So proud of the outstanding @tprwills and @theSNP #Shetland campaign - our vote share is up almost 10 points and the Lib Dem majority has been slashed, with a 14% swing to SNP. What was the safest seat in Scotland is now a top SNP target for 2021. The #TideIsTurning
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 30, 2019
Wills rejected the notion that the SNP had pushed too hard, saying that the level of activity had been “normal” for a by-election, incidentally the first in Shetland for 98 years.
Independent candidate Ryan Thomson came in third in the by-election, with 1,286 votes, ahead of Conservative Brydon Goodlad on 425, Green candidate Debra Nicolson on 189 and Labour’s Johan Adamson on 152.
Independent candidate Michael Stout polled 134 votes, with Ian Scott collecting 66, while UKIP candidate Stuart Martin secured 60 votes and independent Peter Tait picked up 31.
Shetland had been the safest seat in Scotland with the Lib Dems winning a 44.3% majority at the last Holyrood election in 2016.
The results in full
Beatrice Wishart (Scottish Lib Dems) 5,659 (47.86%, -19.52%)
Tom Wills (SNP) 3,822 (32.32%, +9.27%)
Ryan Thomson (Independent) 1,286 (10.88%)
Brydon Goodlad (Scottish Conservative) 425 (3.59%, -0.07%)
Debra Nicolson (Green) 189 (1.60%)
Johan Adamson (Scottish Labour) 152 (1.29%, -4.61%)
Michael Stout (Independent) 134 (1.13%)
Ian Scott (Independent) 66 (0.56%)
Stuart Martin (UKIP) 60 (0.51%)
Peter Tait (Independent) 31 (0.26%)
14.40% swing Lib Dem to SNP
Electorate 17,810 - Turnout 11,824 (66.39%, up by 4.31%)
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