Edinburgh by-elections next week will choose two new councillors
Contests in Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar
Voters go to the polls next week to choose two new Edinburgh councillors.
By-elections are taking place in Southside/Newington ward and Portobello/Craigmillar ward to replace two SNP councillors who were elected as MSPs at the Holyrood elections in May.
The contests, on Thursday, September 3, will be a key test of the parties' popularity ahead of next May, when there will be elections for all 62 seats on the city council.
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Going by the results of the last council elections in 2022, the SNP should hold on to the seat in Portobello/Craigmillar, but the Southside/Newington looks like a contest between Labour and the Greens, with the SNP snapping at their heels.
A total of 13 candidates are standing in Southside/Newington, where the vacancy has arisen from the resignation of former SNP group leader Simita Kumar after she was elected MSP for Edinburgh South West at the Scottish Parliament elections in May. Ms Kumar was also appointed as Minister for Equalities and International Development.
In Portobello/Craigmillar, 10 candidates are vying to replace SNP councillor and former housing convener Kate Campbell, who is now MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent.
Adam McGibbon, campaign manager for Edinburgh Greens, is upbeat about the Greens’ chances in both seats and even talks of potential victories as a step towards Greens being in government at the City Chambers next year.
He said:"The Greens have hundreds of volunteers out knocking doors, with the excitement of our best-ever Holyrood result in May carrying over into these summer by-elections. The Greens won the most regional list votes in Edinburgh in May, and we're confident of Green wins in these by-elections.
“This is an important step in our work towards a historic result in next May's council elections - where the Greens have a realistic chance of governing Edinburgh for the first time."
SNP group leader Lesley Macinnes acknowledges Portobello/Craigmillar is the stronger seat for the party, but says Southside/Newington is “up for grabs”.
She said: “We are popular in Portobello/Craigmillar - you can see that with other election results. It is never a foregone conclusion and our candidate is working really hard to make sure people know who he is and what he stands for and what the party stands for.
“Southside/Newington is a more closely contested one - you just have to look at the results of the last council election there to see that's the case. But we have a fantastic young candidate who is working very hard and he's getting a really good reaction.
“As a party we stand for progress and we stand for looking after people. We are concerned about the vulnerable in society, we are concerned about taking positive action and I think both candidates would be vey focused on that in their particular areas.”
Labour council leader Jane Meagher said she was approaching the by-elections with optimism.
“We have two very strong candidates, both with life experience, both with jobs in the real world, and both prepared to work hard for the sake of the city. That’s the kind of councillors I believe we need in the current political climate - people who are prepared to seek consensus in the interests of the city rather than party politics.”
In the face of a comfortable SNP majority in Portobello/Craigmillar last time Cllr Meagher said she was “forever optimistic”. She said: “The reality is that in by-elections it’s almost always impossible to predict, largely because it’s never clear what the turnout is going to be. So I’m going forward with optimism.
“The pundits say we have a better chance in Southside/Newington, but we also have a lot of sensible people in Portobello/Craigmillar, who look at the track record of Labour and think ‘Well, let’s keep giving them a chance’.”
Southside/Newington
At the last council elections in 2022, Labour topped the poll in Southside/Newington with 2,837 first preference votes - 24.1 per cent of the total; the Greens were second with 2,717 votes or 23 per cent. Labour's Tim Pogson and the Greens' Steve Burgess were both elected in the first round of counting, without the need for transfers. The SNP was third on 19.2 per cent and the Conservatives fourth on 17.6.
Labour’s candidate for Southside/Newington is Ruth Elliott, who is originally from West Cumbria, but moved to Edinburgh in 2020 to complete her degree and says she loved the city so much she stayed on and has made it her home. She works in Morrisons at Gilmerton and previously worked in student unions, supporting volunteer-led projects and campaigns.
The Green candidate is Isabella Gastel Alejandre, who moved to the Southside as a student studying maths, and now works as a self-employed gardener. She runs a permaculture garden where people can grow their own food sustainably, and a mending workshop for students, giving them the confidence, tools, and skills to fix their own clothes.
SNP candidate Sam Mackenzie is originally from the Highlands, but now lives in the Southside/Newington ward.
Portobello/Craigmillar
In Portobello/Craigmillar in 2022, the SNP's Kate Campbell was a clear winner with 3,438 votes - 30.7 per cent. Labour, in second place, was some way behind with 2.099 votes or 18.8 per cent. The Greens finished third with 1,808 votes - 16.2 per cent of the total.
SNP candidate and Portobello resident Silas McGilvray has lived in Edinburgh for the past 16 years and works for the NHS in the in the standards team at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, after previously working at the European Parliament and in international development.
Labour’s candidate is Jim Wyke, who comes originally from Musselburgh but now lives in Portobello and works for a children’s rights charity. He is a former UK civil servant working on marine conservation. And he was a member of the SNP between 2015 and 2021, but says he left after campaigning for transparency and concluding the party was either institutionally corrupt or contemptuous of its members.
And the Greens are fielding Lorenzo Martinico, who trained as a co-operative development advisor and now works with a number of new and established co-ops. He lives in Portobello and has been involved in community projects and the third sector since moving to Edinburgh 12 years ago.
Polling day for both by-elections is Thursday, September 3. The polls will be open from 7am until 10pm.
The elections will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.
Full list of candidates
Southside/Newington:
- Ruth Elliot: SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
- Derrick Emms: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE
- Isabella Gastel Alejandre: SCOTTISH GREENS
- Roisin Keirdashian: INDEPENDENT
- Artie Khovanov: SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
- Nick Layden: SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST
- Richard Crewe Lucas: SCOTTISH FAMILY PARTY – CHRISTIAN VALUES
- Sam Alexander Mackenzie: SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP)
- Sean McGregor Moffat: ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM
- Gary Neill: REFORM UK
- Markham Rowbotham: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE
- Richard Shillcock: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN
- Marc Wilkinson: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE
Portobello/Craigmillar:
- David Craig Ballantine: ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM
- Niel Deepnarain: SCOTTISH FAMILY PARTY – CHRISTIAN VALUES
- Pete Gregson: WORKERS PARTY OF BRITIAN
- Lorenzo Martinico: SCOTTISH GREENS
- Silas McGilvray: SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP)
- Andrew McLaughlin: REFORM UK
- Peter Olech: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN
- Liss Owen: SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
- Jim Patrick Wyke: SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
- Haris Young: SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST