HAT TRICK FOR SNP WITH BY-ELECTION SUCCESS

PARTY WELCOMES THREE WINS ON EVE OF BIGGEST CONFERENCE EVER
On the eve of the party’s biggest ever conference, the SNP is today celebrating a by-election hat trick with wins in council by-elections in Fife, the North East and West Lothian.
The SNP gained Glenrothes West and Kinglassie – an area considered Labour heartland – as candidate Craig Walker won 55.3 per cent of the vote. This is a 12 per cent increase in the SNP vote since 2012 and the second by-election win in Fife this year.
In January, Marie Penman was elected as councillor for the Kirkcaldy East ward with 47 per cent of the vote and a 10.9 per cent increase in the SNP vote.
There was also good news in Buckie as SNP candidate Sonya Warren was elected with nearly 60 per cent of the vote – a 23.5 per cent increase in the SNP vote since the last by-election in the ward in the number in the administration group of 10 Independents and one non-aligned Conservative.
The election of SNP candidate Sarah King in Armadale, Blackridge, Torphichen & Westfield made for a hat trick, with Councillor King securing more than 43 per cent of the vote and coming from second place in 2012.
Another by-election in Benbecula and North Uist saw SNP candidate Roslyn Macpherson increase the SNP share of the vote by nearly 25 per cent, despite falling short of winning.