Reform UK send out serious warning to Baillie over Dumbarton constituency seat
Left to right Kevin Crawford SNP; David H Smith, Reform UK and Maureen McGlinchey, Labour.
By Bill Heaney
Scottish Labour are licking their wounds this morning after polling fewer votes than the SNP and Reform UK at a by-election in the Clydebank Waterfront Ward.
Scottish National Party candidate Kevin Crawford was elected at stage seven after a four-hour nail bitingly close count with 1331 votes.
Turnout for the by election was 25.3%, with 2,954 votes cast from an eligible electorate of 11,657 which is pathetic in a town that was once so politically committed to Left wing politics.
The election was decided using the Single Transferable Vote electoral system, which asks voters to mark their preference in numerical order.
Cllr Crawford’s election will make little or no difference to the voting on West Dunbartonshire Council which has 22 members, a Scottish Labour administration with ten; four Independents, who have quit Labour; seven SNP and one Community Party member, Cllr Jim Bollan.
This was the first test of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party in Scotland and The Democrat had forecast that it would be a close fight between their candidate, David H Smith and Labour’s Maureen McGlinchey, which it was until the SNP’s Kevin Crawford overtook them in the home straight.
Cllr Crawford’s win, aided by the SNP’s Marie McNair’s performance in opposition to the Assisted Dying Bill in the Scottish Parliament, was helped across the line by the fact that she is local and has close ties with the St Margaret of Scotland Hospice in Clydebank.
At the finishing line the scores on the doors were Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party(SNP): 1331; David Smith – Reform UK: 919, and Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 822.
The fact that Scottish Labour’s Maureen McGlinchey was excluded from the ballot at Stage 6 and that David Smith returned an astonishing 919 votes will be a source of serious concern for Dame Jackie Baillie, the sitting MSP for Dumbarton for the past 25 years.
Over the next 12 months until the Holyrood elections, Jackie will not only have to take on David Smith’s Farage-financed campaign for Reform UK, who will be standing against her, but a resurgent SNP, who lost the Clydebank Westminster seat held by Martin Hughes Docherty to Labour’s Douglas McAllister.
They now have Kevin Crawford bolstering their West Dunbartonshire Council presence and Marie McNair MSP, a former West Dunbartonshire Council member, who has matured into an SNP back bencher people listen to at Holyrood.
Marie looks at this stage favourite to keep her Clydebank/Milngavie seat in Edinburgh.
Announcing the new Waterfront councillor, Returning Officer Peter Hessett said: “Congratulations to Councillor Crawford on being elected to represent the people of Clydebank Waterfront ward, and thank you to all the candidates who showed dedication while they campaigned for election over the last few weeks.
“The role of Councillor is vitally important as it gives people in our communities a voice on the local issues that matter to them most.
“I am grateful to everyone who came out and voted in this by election and to staff who ensured the process of electing the new councillor ran smoothly and safely.”
The outcome of votes for each stage of the count is outlined below:
Stage 1
Eryn Browning – Scottish Greens: 76
Kevin Crawford, pictured top of page, Scottish National Party (SNP): 1039
Kristopher Duncan – Alba Party for independence: 47
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 739
Andrew Joseph Muir – Scottish Family Party: 25
David Smith – Reform UK: 768
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats:138
Brian Walker – Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party: 84
Andrew Joseph Muir excluded.
Stage 2
Eryn Browning – Scottish Greens: 77
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1042
Kristopher Duncan – Alba Party for independence: 51
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 742
David Smith – Reform UK: 772
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats: 138
Brian Walker – Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party: 85
Kristopher Duncan excluded.
Stage 3
Eryn Browning – Scottish Greens: 83
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1061
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 745
David Smith – Reform UK: 780
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats: 138
Brian Walker – Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party: 85
Eryn Browning excluded.
Stage 4
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1095
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 759
David Smith – Reform UK: 782
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats: 154
Brian Walker – Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party: 87
Brian Walker excluded.
Stage 5
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1098
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 770
David Smith – Reform UK: 808
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats: 167
Cameron Eoin Stewart excluded.
Stage 6
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1123
Maureen McGlinchey – Scottish Labour Party: 822
David Smith – Reform UK: 840
Maureen McGlinchey excluded.
Stage 7
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP): 1331
David Smith – Reform UK: 919
Kevin Crawford elected.