Labour win Hamilton by-election

The total number of overall votes cast was substantially lower than it was in 2021.

I don't know if they vote as a block. The first SNP member I ever met was a Gers fan - though he was not an Orangeman. Broadly speaking I'd say most members of the order would vote Tory / Reform though?

In my experience Labour have amazing ground game compared to other political parties. Turnout was 40% (turnout in the 2021 scottish election was 60%). Not convinced they’ll hold it next time though.

At least the Orange Order have colourful costumes though.

Going for the knuckle dragging vote!!! What a surprise.

I wonder who the Daily Record supported.

Their vote share is down about 20% on last years GE seats in the same area. Not surprising given its a Holyrood by-election less than a year out from a full SGE so voter apathy is always going to be a factor, but I think it's indicative of the fact that the post-2024 honeymoon period is well and truly over.

Despite the concern about the simple fact 26.1% of the turnout voted Reform, it's actually a little bit reassuring that if they can't win a constituency seat in a by-election in the most staunchly unionist part of the Central Belt, when there are unpopular governments in both Westminster and Holyrood, then there's not much hope of them picking any up in a full General Election when voter turnout is likely to be much higher. Still expect them to pick up perhaps 12-15 MSP's on the list, but it already looks like directly elected members are beyond them.

The pension schemes are closed to new employees in councils they control

They’re not because that would be illegal and they’ll be very swiftly taken to court if they try it. It’s Dubai Dick’s fantasy. Is there any evidence that they’re sacking people? I haven’t seen any, they haven’t had time to go through the legally required redundancy process.

They've already given up in Cornwall? And the Northumberland North branch has been suspended, I'm not sure why. In Lincs they are scrapping the tiresome flood defence arrangements. The pension schemes are closed to new employees in councils they control and they are sacking people. All in all a great start...not. Four years will be a long time for these half wits.

Populists like Farage and Trump and Johnson thrive on publicity. And the media seem to be unable to not give it to them.

For comparison the Hamilton by-election of 1999 had a lower turnout than this one.

You're like a Dutch sports commentator I recall from the 90s who complained that the winner of the actual Olympic gold didn't do it in a world record.

Nothing Labour do will ever be considered good by some. Meanwhile Reform have 4 years to utterly fuck up the councils they now run and I'm sure they won't let us down in that sense. Let them have the rope, I say.

Thank Feck they won and beat the SNP.
Gives me a little hope for next year. Could this finally be the end of the cult of the SNP and their complete grasp on power?

no point anyone flapping their hands about turnout though - it’s a by-election and that turnout isn’t bad for Lanarkshire.

It's my local seat, labour threw everything but the kitchen seat at this. We had people at our door every day in the week running up to it, and before that was daily pamphlets. Reform didn't come to our estate, but up the road in Larkhall they had a open top reform bus blaring down the main street.

They fucking won - what would doing better look like?

I'm not into lying to please people - Labour didnt do well.

The commentariat seem desperate for Reform to win the next GE. Partly because the Tories are nowhere and partly because Starmer is boring. They yearn for the excitement they see across the pond.

They'll have plenty to talk about when Reform sells off the NHS, scraps the BBC and tanks the economy. There's a sneak preview of that scenario playing out in councils they run already. But that's sooo boring isnt it.💤

That’s first past the post. 🤷‍♀️

Nobody should be pleased with the result. Labour winning with less than a third of the vote is not good. It means nearly 70% of those that actually voted did not want Labour to win.

I heard someone on The World at One saying the Labour candidate hadn't bothered much with doing interviews but he and his campaigners did do a lot of knocking on doors and talking to potential voters. Simple common sense, surely? There seem to be huge numbers of people now who don't read a newspaper and never watch news on terrestrrial TV or listen to news on the radio. All of those news sources are to some extent regulated and provide facts, albeit often spun in a particular direction. Many voters will, however, get 'news' directly from social media, YouTube, TikTok and so on, which are completely unregulated and unverified. If you want to get to these voters, tramping the streets is probably the best way.

Exactly this. Go on @anyolddinosaur you can do it - through gritted teeth!