Edinburgh council by-election: Voters in Colinton/Fairmilehead choose successor for Scott Arthur

Cllr Arthur came top of the poll in the three-member ward at the last council elections in 2022, with a third of first preference votes.

And veteran Labour politician Sheila Gilmore is bidding to hold the seat and make a return to the City Chambers 17 years after she stood down.  She was a councillor for 16 years, including eight as housing convener, before leaving in 2007 and then became MP for Edinburgh East between 2020 and 2015.  She says she is "cautiously optimistic" about her chances.

Four of the 12 candidates in the Colinton/Fairmilehead by-election: (from left) Sheila Gilmore - Labour; Neil Cuthbert - Conservative; Mairianna Clyde - SNP; and Louise Spence - Lib Dem. | collage

Tory candidate Neil Cuthbert stood along with well-established councillor Jason Rust at the 2022 elections. Together they took 30 per cent of the first preferences, but for the first time the Conservatives failed to win two seats in the ward.  

Hoping to capitalise on the decline in Tory fortunes and the drop in Labour's popularity since the general election is Lib Dem candidate Louise Spence.  She also stood in the ward at the 2022 elections, taking 12.4 per cent of the first references. 

The party has not polled highly in the area previously, but it has been campaigning hard and makes much of the fact Ms Spence lives in the ward.

The area is not traditionally strong territory for the SNP either, though former MSP Marco Biagi got elected in 2022 with 17.3 per cent of first preferences. Their candidate is Mairianna Clyde.

There are a total of 12 candidates altogether:

• Bonnie Prince Bob, Independent
• Mev Brown, Independent
• Mairianna Clyde, Scottish National Party (SNP)
• Neil Cuthbert, Scottish Conservative and Unionist
• Sheila Gilmore, Scottish Labour Party
• David Ian Henry, Independent
• Tam Laird, Scottish Libertarian Party
• Grant Lidster, Reform UK
• Richard Crewe Lucas, Scottish Family Party
• Daniel Aleksanteri Milligan, Scottish Greens
• Louise Spence, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Marc Wilkinson, Independent

Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm. Voters are asked to rank candidates 1, 2, 3, etc, in order of preference, and not to mark their ballot paper with an X. People can place a number against as many or as few of the candidates as they wish.

The votes will be counted on Friday and the result is expected before lunchtime.

Candidates set out their stalls ahead of Colinton/ Fairmilehead vote