Glasgow Anniesland By-elections 2000


saltire shield'On a swing of this order, the SNP would be winning some two dozen first past the post seats from Labour in the Scottish Parliament.'
SNP spokesman, 24 th November 2000.
Lion Rampant

Labour holds Dewar seats

From BBC Scotland 24 th November 2000

Labour has held Glasgow Anniesland in the by-elections caused by the death of Scotland's First Minister Donald Dewar.

Bill Butler secured the Scottish Parliament seat with a majority of 5,376, down from 10,993 in May 1999.

And John Robertson won the Westminster seat but the majority was again reduced, dropping from15,154 in 1997 to 6,337.

Turnout was 38%, the lowest figure for a post-war Scottish by-election.

Mr Dewar's death in October left a double vacancy.

2000 Scottish Parliament result
Labour: 9,838 (48.65%)
SNP: 4,462 (22.07%)
Tory: 2,148 (10.62%)
Scottish Socialists: 1,429 (7.07%)
Lib Dem: 1,384 (6.84%)
Scottish Greens: 662 (3.27%)
Socialist Labour: 298 (1.47%)
Lab. maj. 5,376 (26.59%)
He represented the constituency at Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament.

At the 1997 general election, Mr Dewar, who died from a brain haemorrhage, increased to 15,154 his majority in the seat he had held since 1978.

When the first Scottish Parliament elections were held in 1999, he also became MSP for Anniesland with a majority of 10,993.

In the Scottish Parliament contest, SNP candidate Thomas Chalmers came second with 4,462 votes and the Tories' Kate Pickering was third on 2,148.

The Scottish Socialist Party was delighted with the 1,429 votes received by its candidate Rosie Kane, who beat the Lib Dems' Judith Fryer on 1,384.

Left-wing councillor

In his victory speech, Mr Butler, 44, an English teacher and a left-wing Glasgow city councillor, paid tribute to the late first minister.

He said: "I consider it a huge honour to be given the chance to follow in his footsteps and I will do all I can to continue the fight for what he believed in.

"The people of Anniesland have voted for decency, fairness and social justice; Donald Dewar's values, my values, Labour's values."

The Scottish National Party had been striving to repeat its near success in Hamilton South earlier this year when it came within 600 votes of taking the seat from Labour.

Mr Robertson, 48, chairman of the Anniesland constituency Labour Party, polled 10,539 votes ahead of Grant Thoms, SNP, on 4,202.

'No Donald Dewar

The Tories' Dorothy Luckhurst secured 2,188 votes.

The Lib Dems' Christopher McGinty finished on 1,630, ahead of Charlie McCarthy, Scottish Socialist Party, on 1,441. William Lyden, Family Action Movement, received 212 votes.


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