 | 'In my experience, the Highlands have, since 1974, gained far more from Brussels than it ever received from Edinburgh or London.' Cllr James Sutherland Munro, Spring 1997. |  |
| 'In my experience, the Highlands have, since 1974, gained far more from Brussels than it ever received from Edinburgh or London.' Cllr James Sutherland Munro, Spring 1997. | |
The result is yet another proof that in the Highlands, personalities count much more than mere party labels. The by election was caused by the death of 77 year old Jimmy Munro, the SNP's longest serving councillor in the Highlands. He started his political career by unseating none other than the Lord Lovat, MacSimi himself. James Munro represented North Aird for the entire lifespan of Highland Regional Council from 1973 to 1996 and transferred to the new Highland council seat of Beauly in 1995.
Cllr Munro was well respected by the ruling Independent group who elected him as chair of Economic Development and of the Northern Joint Police Board. He also chaired Highland Opportunity and Highland Prospect for 17 years.
The by-election was contested by 4 independents, the Conservatives and the SNP. It was won by one of the Independents with 257 votes (28.4 %) while the Conservatives came second with 20.4%.
The composition of Highland Council (with the April 1995 figure in brackets) is: Independents 47 (49); Scottish National Party 12 (9); Labour 5 (6); Liberal Democrats 4 (4); Liberals 2 (2); Conservatives 1 (1); and Scottish Labour 1 (1).
| 26 th June 1997 | 6 th April 1995 | ||||||
| Ind | 257 | 28.4% | James Munro |  | 611 | 67.3% | |
 | 184 | 20.4% | John Sellar | Ind | 297 | 32.7% | |
| Ind | 157 | 17.4% | |||||
| Ind | 127 | 14.0% | |||||
| Ind | 103 | 11.4% | |||||
| 76 | 8.4% | |||||
| Ind gain from SNP | Ind maj. | 73 | 8.0% | SNP gain | SNP maj. | 314 | 34.6% |
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