Local By-elections

'Mr Lazarowicz, 44, who is a past chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland, attacked a growing and dangerous centralisation of control within the party which made no allowance for devolution, and he spoke of a 'climate of self- censorship' which stifled criticism of what was happening.' Frances Horsburgh in the Herald, 19 th June 1998.

Broughton (City of Edinburgh) 11 th October 2001

Broughton - ward 19 Labour hold

There was a by-election for the Broughton ward of the City of Edinburgh Council on the 11 th October 2001 following the election of Labour Cllr Marek Lazarowicz as MP for Edinburgh North & Leith in succession to Malcolm Chisholm on the 7 th June 2001.

Broughton is in the new Edinburgh North & Leith Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Marek Lazarowicz MP) and in the Edinburgh North & Leith Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Malcolm Chisholm MSP).

Labour Cllr Trevor Davies

11 th October 2001 By-election. Turnout 21.5 % (- 36.8 %)
Candidate	Logo	Party	Votes	%	% change
Trevor Davies		Labour	659	44.3 %	- 2.0 %
George Reiss		Liberal Democrat	357	24.0 %	+ 4.7 %
Anne Dana		Scottish National Party	195	13.1 %	- 8.7 %
Ian Mowat		Conservative	130	8.7 %	- 3.9 %
Mark Ballard		Scotish Green Party	80	5.4 %	(+ 5.4 %)
Julie Smith		Scottish Socialist Party	66	4.4 %	(+ 4.4 %)
Labour hold		Labour majority	302	20.3 %	- 4.2 %

6 th May 1999 Turnout 58.3 % (+ 20.8 %)
Candidate	Logo	Party	Votes	%	% change
Marek J. Lazarowicz		Labour	1,788	46.3 %	- 10.7 %
Claire A. R. G. Fyvie		Scottish National Party	840	21.8 %	+ 0.4 %
George Reiss		Liberal Democrat	747	19.3 %	+ 11.2 %
William P. C. MacNair		Conservative	487	12.6 %	- 1.0 %
Labour hold		Labour majority	948	24.5 %	- 11.2 %

6 th April 1995 Turnout 37.5 %
Candidate	Logo	Party	Votes	%	% change
Margaret MacGregor		Labour	1,317	57.0 %
Iona MacDonald		Scottish National Party	493	21.4 %
David Cavaye		Conservative	313	13.6 %
Isobel Wilson		Liberal Democrat	186	8.1 %
Labour win		Labour majority	824	35.7 %

Ward assessment

There will be by-election in the Broughton ward of the City of Edinburgh Council following the election of Cllr Marek (Mark) Lazarowicz as MP for Edinburgh North & Leith in succession to Malcolm Chisholm.

Mark Lazarowicz is a former leader of Edinburgh District Council and a past chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland. He became council leader when he deposed left winger Alex Wood in a bloodless coup in 1986.

Mr Lazarowicz appears to be yet another Labour candidate who is 'good enough for Westminster but not good enough for the Scottish Parliament. After he was rejected by Rosemary McKenna's Network Cabal he rejected the idea of a giant conspiracy so far as the selection of candidates was concerned, and believed what had happened was more 'cock-up with conspiracy round the edges'.

Mr Lazarowicz said there had been political decisions made to exclude some people in a few cases, and some element of favouritism. The powerful Network faction (ultra-loyal Blairites) had wielded considerable influence over the process.

'If the selection process has led to the exclusion of such high profile candidates as Murray Elder, Elizabeth Maginnis, Isobel Lindsay, and Susan Deacon, to name but a few, then it is the process itself which is wrong.There are a number of people who have spoken to me over the last few days who have expressed their support but have said they didn't want to speak publicly because they were afraid it might affect their chances of getting on the panel of candidates for the local council elections. People like myself have also not spoken out so far because of a sense of loyalty and because they didn't want to damage the party.'

Mr Lazarowicz retired as a Labour District Councillor in 1996, but following his rejection as a possible MSP he stood for and won the Broughton ward on the City of Edinburgh Council in 1999 before being selected as the replacement for the Edinburgh North & Leith MP Malcolm Chisholm who resigned as a Scottish Office Minister in protest against New Labour's benefits cuts.

In 1992, Labour lost overall control of Edinburgh District Council. In a swings and roundabouts election six seats changed hands leaving the Lib Dems up two, the Tories up one, the SNP down one and Labour down two. The Tories won Longstone from Labour and Moat and Queensferry from the SNP; the Lib Dems won Marchmont and Morningside from the Tories, and the SNP gained Kirkliston from Labour. This resulted in a hung council with Labour on 30 wards, the Tories on 23, the Lib Dems on seven and the SNP on two. A deal was struck between Labour and the SNP and the veteran SNP councillor Norman Irons was voted in as Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

In 1992, Labour's M. McGregor held Broughton with 984 votes (40.9 %) giving him a 168 majority (7.0 %) over Tory M. Durie who polled 816 votes (33.9 %). In third place was the SNP's S.W. Munn with 361 votes (15.0 %) followed by Lib Dem A.B. Wilson with 243 votes (10.1 %). At this time Marek Lazarowicz was District Cllr for North Hailes which he held with 780 votes (60.7 %) giving him a 427 majority 33.2 %) over the SNP's W. MacCallum with 353 votes (27.4 %) with Tory C. Bradshaw taking 153 votes (11.9 %).

Following local government reorganisation the number of Edinburgh wards was reduced from 62 to 58. In 1995, Labour won an overall majority of the wards in Edinburgh, taking 34 seats compared to 14 for the Tories, and 10 for the Lib Dems. The SNP, despite polling 17.2 % of the vote in the capital, just 0.9 % less than the Lib Dems, found themselves without representation on the council until Rob Munn won the Harbour ward from Labour in a by-election in 1996 and held it in 1999.

In the new City of Edinburgh Council ward of Broughton, Labour were represented by Margaret McGregor in 1995. She took 1,317 votes (57.0 %) giving Labour a 824 majority (35.7 %) over Iona Macdonald for the SNP who took 493 votes (21.4 %). In third place was Tory David Cavaye who polled 313 votes (13.6 %) followed by Lib Dem Isobel Wilson with 186 votes (8.1 %).

In 1999, Marek Lazarowicz stood and held the Broughton ward for Labour with 1,788 votes (46.3 %) giving him a 948 majority (24.5 %) over the SNP's Claire Fyvie with 840 votes (21.8 %). In third place was Lib Dems George Reiss with 747 votes (19.3 %) followed by Tory William McNair with 487 votes (12.6 %).

Pending the three by-elections in the wards of Prestonfield (Labour), Broughton (Labour), and South East Corstorphine (Lib Dem), the political composition of the City of Edinburgh Council is 29 Labour, 13 Conservatives, 12 Lib Dems and one Scottish National Party councillor.

Broughton By-Election Results

From Pilrig Residents Association, 12 th October 2001

The result of the by-election for the Broughton ward of the City of Edinburgh Council on 11 October 2001 was as follows:

The new councillor for Broughton is Trevor Davies. This includes approximately half of Pilrig from the railway line at the back of McDonald Road to the southside of Pilrig Street.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of sitting councillor Mark Lazarowicz following his election as MP for North Edinburgh & Leith earlier this year.

Prior to the election, the candidates were asked to make statements on various Pilrig issues.

The composition of the City Council remains unchanged: 29 Labour, 13 Conservatives, 12 Lib Dems and one SNP councillor.

Turnout was very low. The simultaneous by-election in SE Costorphine had a turnout of 31.5%.

For comparison, previous years' results were as follows:

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