Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election: Lib Dems and Labour both have reason to celebrate
Edinburgh's Liberal Democrats are cock-a-hoop after winning last week's Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart by-election for the city council.
The party had not been targeting the ward, but had a strong local candidate in community council treasurer Kevin McKay and from a standing start succeeded in getting him elected.
But it was a very close finish, with the Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens all in with a shout until the very last stages of the count on Thursday night.
Labour's Catriona Munro won the most first preferences, but under the Single Transferable Vote system, where voters rank the candidates 1, 2, 3, etc, the votes are then redistributed until one person gets more than half the total.
The Lib Dems, who were fifth here at the last council elections in 2022, are still pinching themselves to realise not only that they ulimtely won, but also that they were with 24 votes of topping the poll on first preferences.
Their victory strengthens their position as the second biggest party on the council, taking them to 14 seats, three behind the SNP and three ahead of Labour.
But Labour also has reason to celebrate. It's the first time they have ever received the most first preferences in this ward - they finished in third place in 2022.
Given the circumstances - the resignation of Cammy Day as council leader at the end of last year, and the unpopularity of some of the UK Labour government’s policies - their performance was remarkable.
And Greens too will be pleased with their showing. If it had been an election with all three of the ward’s seats up for grabs, they would have gone to the Lib Dems, Labour and Greens.
Meanwhile, the Tories look as if they have cause to be concerned. In 2022, their candidate got enough first preference votes to be elected on the first round of counting. This time they finished fifth with their vote share almost halved, while Reform took 489 first preferences, finishing sixth.
And the SNP, pushed down from second to fourth place will also be disappointed.
Of course, the outcome of one local election cannot automatically be translated to the larger stage. But all parties will nevertheless be looking at the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart results and thinking what they could mean not only for next year’s Scottish Parliament elections. but also the next council elections in 2027.