Exactly as nature intended, the SNP have defeated Labour in the Battle of BannockburnTo answer Keaton's question from the previous thread, the SNP's gain from Labour in the Bannockburn by-election is a 'technical' one rather than a 'real' one, because although Labour were defending the seat, the SNP won the popular vote in the ward last time around. However, there has been a swing from Labour to SNP, which arguably makes it as good as a real gain anyway.
Bannockburn by-election result on first preferences (23rd January 2025):
SNP 35.9% (+7.2)
Labour 23.9% (+3.1)
Reform UK 22.7% (n/a)
Conservatives 10.7% (-8.4)
Liberal Democrats 3.5% (+1.4)
Greens 3.4% (+1.0)
Apart from the SNP's strikingly strong performance, it's once again the breakthrough for Reform UK that stands out. 23% is on the high side for them, even by the standards of recent Scottish by-elections. But that's been offset by a relatively poor result for them in the Colinton/Fairmilehead by-election in Edinburgh. That was the ward where the Liberal Democrats had a stunning by-election gain towards the end of last year, only to see their winning candidate resign as a councillor about ten seconds later. Understandably they've been punished for that, with their vote collapsing and a lot of it returning to the Tories.
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Please stay safe in the storm today. I was in a public place in Glasgow last night when the sirens on people's mobile phones started going off simultaneously. It was just a tad sinister because for a minute or two it was far from clear what was going on. You really need a warning about the warning.
Source: Exactly as nature intended, the SNP have defeated Labour in the Battle of Bannockburn (//)