Edinburgh council: Lib Dems win surprise victory in Colinton/Fairmilehead by-election

The contest in Colinton/Fairmilehead was caused by the resignation of former transport convener Scott Arthur after he was elected an MP at the general election.

By-election victor Louise Spence surrounded by supporters celebrating her win | TSPL

It was won for the Lib Dems by Louise Spence, who finished in fourth place when she stood in the ward at the 2022 council elections.

It means the Lib Dems now have 14 councillors and are the second biggest party at the City Chambers after the SNP who have 18. Labour, which is currently in charge as a minority administration, has 11 seats, the Greens 10 and Tories nine with one independent.

The Lib Dem group will meet on Monday to discuss their next step but there is already speculation about whether they could challenge Labour's control of the council or at least press for substantive posts in the administration. 

They currently have three convenerships - of the regulatory committee, the licensing board and the development management sub-committee - but they are all quasi judicial and therefore not seen as political or a core part of the administration.

But it would be difficult for Labour to allow the Lib Dems to take the convenerships of any key committees because Scottish Labour has a policy against forming coalitions with other parties.

Edinburgh Lib Dem group leader Kevin Lang was delighted by the outcome.of the by-election. He said: "This is a spectacular result for the Liberal Democrats and a historic one because we've never won in this ward before."

He said Louise Spence was rooted in the community and would be a "fantastic" local councillor. But he would not be drawn on what the Lib Dems would do with their strengthened position. 

He said: "This does have an impact on the arithmetic of Edinburgh council, which is already a very balanced and split council. We as a group are going to be meeting next week to consider what this by-election means as we go forward and we'll have more to say on that after we've met as a group." 

The Lib Dems faced similar questions after winning the Corstorphine/Murayfield by-election in March 2023, when they took a seat from the SNP and overtook Labour to become the second biggest group.

At that time, Cllr Lang said they had decided not to challenge Labour's leadership of the council because "any attempt to change the current administration on Edinburgh council risks a dangerous power grab by SNP councillors".

The by-election - which used the Single Transferable Vote system, with voters ranking candidates 1, 2, 3, etc - was held on Thursday, but the votes were counted at Waverley Court today. The turn-out was 37.4 per cent

Louise Spence emerged well ahead in the first round with 2,683 first preferences, with Tory Neil Cuthbert on 1,454, narrowly ahead of Labour's Sheila Gilmore on 1,441. There were 12 candidates altogether and after the transfer of second and further preferences, Ms Spence was declared the winner with 3,751 votes to Ms Gilmore’s 2,055.

Ms Spence said she was "excited to get to work", naming schools, road and the green belt as the top concerns of people she spoke to on the doorstep. 

For Ms Gilmore, the result dashes her hopes of making a comeback to the City Chambers 17 years after standing down as a councillor. She served on the council for 16 years until 2007 and was housing convener for half of that time. She then went on to be MP for Edinburgh East between 2010 and 2015. She was expected to take a senior role in the administration if she had been elected.