 | 'Labour's Richard Tullett gained the seat despite a 22.5% drop in his party's first count vote share - a perverse side-effect of the single transferable vote system introduced for Scottish council elections last year. The system is meant to achieve a proportional seats share-out but yesterday's result was for only one seat and so leaves Labour with all three of the ward's councillors.' Stewart Paterson and Robbie Dinwoodie in the Herald, 10 th March 2008. |  |
There was a by-election in the Cambuslang East ward of South Lanarkshire Council on the 6 th of March 2008 following the death of Scottish National Party Cllr John Higgins on the 29 th December 2007.
Cambuslang East is in the Rutherglen & Hamilton West Westminster parliamentary seat (held by Labours's Rt Hon Tommy McAvoy MP) and in the Glasgow Rutherglen Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's James Kelly MSP). In May 2007, 3 Cllrs were elected: Walter Brogan (Labour), John Higgins (Scottish National Party) and Pam Clearie (Labour).
Labour gain from Scottish National Party.
I am indebted to Cathie Russell, Corporate Communications Manager at South Lanarkshire Council for the detailed results.
 |
 |
 |
| Cllr Richard Tullett Labour Newly elected Cllr |
Cllr Walter Brogan Labour |
Cllr Pam Clearie Labour |
| Seats | Candidates | Counts | Electorate | % poll | Quota | Rejected votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 8 | 10,397 | 24.95 % | 1,298 | 38 |
| Candidate | Logo | Party | 1 st Pref | Share | Quota | Count | Status | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Tullett |  |
Labour | 725 | 27.95 % | 0.56 | 8 | Made Quota | 1 |
| Christine Deanie |  |
Scottish National Party | 609 | 23.48 % | 0.47 | 8 | Eliminated | |
| Tunweer Malik |  |
Liberal Democrat | 580 | 22.36 % | 0.45 | 7 | Eliminated | |
| John McGuinness |  |
Independent | 509 | 19.62 % | 0.39 | 6 | Eliminated | |
| Malcolm Macaskill |  |
Conservative & Unionist | 80 | 3.08 % | 0.06 | 5 | Eliminated | |
| Jimi Moore |  |
Scottish Unionist Party | 38 | 1.46 % | 0.03 | 4 | Eliminated | |
| David McClemont |  |
Scottish Socialist Party | 32 | 1.23 % | 0.02 | 3 | Eliminated | |
| Susan Martin |  |
Scottish Green Party | 21 | 0.81 % | 0.02 | 2 | Eliminated |
| Adjustments | Exclusion of Martin | Exclusion of McClemont | Exclusion of Moore | Exclusion of Macaskill | Exclusion of McGuinness | Exclusion of Malik | Exclusion of Deanie | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Count 1 | Count 2 | Count 3 | Count 4 | Count 5 | Count 6 | Count 7 | Count 8 |
| Richard Tullett | |
Labour | 725 | + 4 729 |
+ 10 739 |
+ 3 742 |
+ 5 747 |
+ 175 922 |
+ 172 1,094 |
+ 381 1,475 Elected |
| Christine Deanie | |
Scottish National Party | 609 | + 5 614 |
+ 7 621 |
+ 4 625 |
+ 13 638 |
+ 90 728 |
+ 234 962 |
- 962 0 Eliminated |
| Tunweer Malik | |
Liberal Democrat | 580 | + 4 584 |
+ 5 589 |
+ 4 593 |
+ 23 616 |
+ 53 669 |
-669 0 Eliminated |
|
| John McGuinness | |
Independent | 509 | + 1 510 |
+ 7 517 |
+ 4 521 |
+ 17 538 |
- 538 0 Eliminated |
||
| Malcolm Macaskill | |
Conservative & Unionist | 80 | + 2 82 |
+ 0 82 |
+ 12 94 |
- 94 0 Eliminated |
|||
| Jimi Moore | |
Scottish Unionist Party | 38 | + 1 39 |
+ 1 40 |
- 40 0 Eliminated |
||||
| David McClemont | |
Scottish Socialist Party | 32 | + 3 35 |
- 35 0 Eliminated |
|||||
| Susan Martin | |
Scottish Green Party | 21 | - 21 0 Eliminated |
||||||
| Seats | Candidates | Counts | Electorate | % poll | Quota | Rejected votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 46.87 % | 1,192 | 105 |
| Candidate | Logo | Party | 1 st Pref | Share | Quota | Count | Status | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Brogan | |
Labour | 1,544 | 32.39 % | 1.30 | 1 | Made Quota | 1 |
| John Higgins | |
Scottish National Party | 1,120 | 23.49 % | 0.94 | 4 | Made Quota | 2 |
| Pam Clearie | |
Labour | 859 | 18.02 % | 0.72 | 4 | Made Quota | 3 |
| Tunweer Malik | |
Liberal Democrat | 684 | 14.35 % | 0.57 | 4 | Not elected | |
| Louise Campbell | |
Conservative & Unionist | 423 | 8.87 % | 0.35 | 4 | Eliminated | |
| David Stevenson | |
Scottish Socialist Party | 137 | 2.87 % | 0.11 | 3 | Eliminated |
| Adjustments | Surplus of Brogan | Exclusion of Stevenson | Exclusion of Campbell | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Count 1 | Count 2 | Count 3 | Count 4 |
| Walter Brogan | |
Labour | 1,544 Elected |
-352 1192 |
||
| John Higgins | |
Scottish National Party | 1,120 | + 19.15 1,139.15 |
+ 42.19 1,181.34 |
+86.14 1267.48 Elected |
| Pam Clearie | |
Labour | 859 | +258.52 1,117.52 |
+34.96 1,152.48 |
+71.74 1,224.22 Elected |
| Tunweer Malik | |
Liberal Democrat | 684 | + 12.77 696.77 |
+ 19.46 716.22 |
+ 129.37 845.59 Not elected |
| Louise Ann Campbell | |
Conservative & Unionist | 423 | + 5.93 428.93 |
+8.46 437.37 |
- 423.38 Eliminated |
| David Stevenson | |
Scottish Socialist Party | 137 | + 9.12 146.12 |
- 146.12 Eliminated |
|
| Non-transferable votes | 0 | + 46.52 46.52 |
+ 41.05 87.57 |
+ 150.14 237.71 |
||
Well-known Cambuslang East councillor John Higgins has died aged 63.
The Ward 14 councillor, who was elected last May after many years of local campaigning, passed away in his sleep on Saturday 29 December 2007.
Leader of South Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Eddie McAvoy, paid tribute to John Higgins this week. He said: "I did not know John well but like everyone else on the council I was aware of the tremendous amount of work he put into the community.
"It was his long term ambition to become a councillor and it is very sad that his dream was cut short.
"His death is a sad loss and I offer my condolences to his family."
Councillor Higgins' funeral will take place at South Lanarkshire Crematorium, Sydes Brae, Blantyre, at 11am on Saturday 5 January 2008.
An SNP councillor in South Lanarkshire who won office last May after years as an activist for this party, has died.
John Higgins, 63, died in his sleep at his family home, leaving his wife Anne, whos is also an SNP councillor and two sons. His brief time as councillor for Cambuslang East was marred by the accusation that he sent a pornographic e-mail to a female council employee. He was suspended from his civic duties but a subsequent inquiry by the Standards Commissoner found that while the message was "inappropriate" it was not pornographic.
Despite this, his return to the council's licensing committee sparked a walkout by eight fellow councillors.
South Lanarkshire Council said the councillor died in his sleep on December 29.
Eddie McAvoy. the council leader said: "I did not know John well but, like everyone else on the council, I was aware of the tremendous ammount of work he put into the community.
SNP MSP Alex Neil said: "I am deeply saddened at John's death and it is a great shame that his ambition to represent the people of Cambuslang has been cut so short."
Although May's elections were proportional representation across multi-member wards, the rules for by-elections mean there will be a straight first-past-the-post contest when it is called.
May I correct Robbie Dinwoodie on the electoral system that will be used for the Cambuslang East by-election (The Herald, January 5).
It will not be "a straight first-past-the-post contest". The method will be by the Alternative Transferable Vote (ATV) which is similar to the Single Transferable Vote (STV), but it is used for single member contests and, although this is a by-election for a multi-member ward where normally STV would be used, on this occasion only one seat is to be filled and that is why ATV is being used.
John W Denning, 66 Provost Buchan Road, Brechin.
JOHN Higgins, councillor for Cambuslang East, has died aged 63. The ward 14 councillor, who was elected in May, passed away in his sleep on 29 December. Councillor Eddie McAvoy, the leader of South Lanarkshire Council, says: "It was his long-term ambition to become a councillor and it is very sad that his dream was cut short. His death is a sad loss and I offer my condolences to his family."
Arrangements are being made to hold a by-election on Thursday 6 March in the Cambuslang East ward (14) following the death of Councillor John Higgins.
Just like the elections to elect councillors on 3 May 2007, this by-election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. We will be using the same polling places as we used in May. They will be open from 7am - 10pm at - Flemington Hallside Church, Cairns Primary School, North Halfway Community Hall, Westburn Hall, Hallside Primary School, St Bride's Primary School, Toll Pitch Pavilion.
Electors will receive a poll card giving details where they should vote and postal voting arrangements.
Electors need to be registered to vote. If they would like to:
- check their name is on the Register of Electors
- arrange a postal or proxy vote
- cancel or change an existing postal or proxy vote
they should contact the Electoral Registration Officer, North Stand, Cadzow Avenue, Hamilton ML3 OLU, on 01698 476080.
The deadline for requesting a postal vote and postal proxy vote is 5pm on Wednesday 20 February or if they want to appoint someone to vote for them in person at the polling station (a proxy vote) it must be arranged by 5pm on Wednesday 27 February.
Election agents and candidates are advised that nomination papers will be available for uplift from the Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton (Tel No 01698 454872) from Monday 28 January. The deadline for lodging nomination papers and appointing election agents is Wednesday 13 February at 4pm.
An information leaflet will be sent to each household in the ward on election arrangements.
Note on the Single Transferable Vote system at by-elections:
Under this system of proportional representation, voters number the candidates in order of preference, placing 1 against their first preference, 2 against their second and so on. You can number as many or as few candidates as you wish.
When the votes are counted, the successful candidate will be the first to reach a number known as the 'quota' which is worked out using a formula that divides the number of valid votes cast by the number of seats available (in this case 1) plus 1. Another 1 is add to the result of this sum (this makes it impossible for there to be a tie.)
At the count - the number of first preference votes each candidate receives is counted (electronically).
If no candidate reaches the quota in the first round, the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated from the contest and their 2nd preference votes will be allocated to the candidate (if any) they marked number 2. This may result in a candidate reaching the quota and being declared the winner. If not, the same process is repeated, eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes and re-allocating their second preferences until the winning candidate is selected.
SOUTH Lanarkshire Council is organising a by-election in the Cambuslang East ward on 6 March, following the death of Councillor John Higgins. Nomination papers will be available from the council offices in Hamilton from Monday 28 January.
Arrangements are being made to hold a by-election on Thursday 6 March in the Cambuslang East ward (14).
Just like the elections to elect councillors on 3 May 2007, this by-election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.
Nominations for the list of candidates have now closed and the candidates are as follows:
Christine Deanie, Scottish National Party;
Malcolm Macaskill, Scottish Conservative and Unionist;
Tunweer Malik, Scottish Liberal Democrats;
Susan Martin, Scottish Green Party;
David McClemont, Scottish Socialist Party;
John McGuinness, Independent;
Jimi Moore, Scottish Unionist,Proudly Scottish, Proudly British;
Richard Tullett, Scottish Labour Party.
Further information is available on our Elections page.
We will be using the same polling places as we used in the Council and Scottish Parliament elections in May last year. They will be open from 7am - 10pm at - Flemington Hallside Church, Cairns Primary School, North Halfway Community Hall, Westburn Hall, Hallside Primary School, St Bride's Primary School, Toll Pitch Pavilion.
Today is the by-election to vote for a Councillor for the Cambuslang East ward (14).
The list of candidates is as follows:
A technical problem led to suspension of the count in a by-election for Scotland's South Lanarkshire Council.
Counting at Cambuslang East is due to resume at noon.
Candidates at yesterday's by-election are gathering at 12-noon today to hear who has been elected to serve the Cambuslang East ward (14).
The results will be posted on the website shortly after the announcement is made.
For more information on the by-election please read the Cambuslang East by-election news story or go to the Elections page for more information.
Richard Tullett of the Scottish Labour Party has been elected to serve on South Lanarkshire Council for Cambuslang East (Ward 14).
From an electorate of 10,545, the total number of votes cast was 2632, giving a percentage poll of 25%.
There were 38 ballot papers rejected. As a result, there were 2594 valid votes cast and the quota required to secure election was set at 1298.
Following application of the rules for single transferable voting, the Presiding Officer Archibald Strang today declared that Richard Tullett has been elected to serve on South Lanarkshire Council as a Councillor for Ward 14, Cambuslang East.
Information showing the results of each stage of the count will be available in a public notice on the website as soon as possible.
The result brings the political composition of South Lanarkshire Council which has 67 members to Labour 31, SNP 23, Scottish Conservative 8, Independent 3 and Liberal Democrat 2.
Last night's count at the Cambuslang East by-election in Hallside Primary School, Newton, was adjourned at midnight because DRS Solutions was unable to finalise the result.
A council spokesperson explained: "The system counted the votes, but was unable to consolidate the data contained in the machine before printing out the result.
"DRS e-counting technology, once again partnering with Electoral Reform Services - STV calculation specialists collected and stored every vote accurately, securely and quickly.
"After consultation with the eight candidates and their agents Returning Officer, Chief Executive Archie Strang adjourned proceedings until noon today.
"Voting papers and the data in the DRS Solutions system remained under lock and key overnight in the school gym, where the count was held.
"Candidates and their agents returned to Hallside Primary today where the results were announced."
Electronic counting should not be used in Scottish elections until improvements to the system are made, the Electoral Commission has said.
It comes after a council by-election declaration was delayed by more than 12 hours after a technical fault.
The same counting software was used for the Cambuslang East count as that used in last May's chaotic Holyrood election.
The Electoral Commission raised serious concerns after the 2007 fiasco.
The results process was besieged by delays and saw some 140,000 ballot papers rejected.
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said that local elections did not fall under the organisations remit but the Cambuslang East by-election delay did raise important issues.
He said: "Following the 2007 Scottish elections the Electoral Commission made clear our serious concerns about the future use of electronic counting.
"We set out the steps that needed to be taken, including measures to ensure transparency, security and accuracy.
"It remains our view that these are
the basic conditions that must be met before e-counting is used again in Scotland," he said.
'Lock and key'
The count at Cambuslang East had been adjourned until midnight because the DRS Solutions system was unable to finalise the result.
A South Lanarkshire Council spokeswoman said: "The system counted the votes but was unable to consolidate the data constrained in the machine before printing out the result."
After a consultation with candidates and agents, council chief executive Archie Strang adjourned proceedings until noon on Friday, with the counting system data and voting papers held under lock and key.
The council said the software problem was resolved overnight.
The result was finalised early on Friday and Labour candidate Richard Tullet was declared the winner in the afternoon.
FIRST THE Scottish general election went wrong, then Cambuslang East's council election and yesterday, even a vote from Scottish youth on what makes Glasgow vibrant failed.
Young Scot held an event for under-18s to decide what makes Glasgow a great place to live, and what changes they'd like. More than 100 young people attended, with several of the asylum-seeking community there, a testament to the city's cosmopolitan demographic.
They decided what the main contributors to Glasgow's vibrancy were: cinema, leisure centres, shopping, the Science Centre, places to eat and the music scene. But during a vote on what youth would like to see changed about these favourites, the voting system failed.
"We can only apologise," Young Scot boss Jackie Dodson said to the crowd as she announced the vote was to become a caucus. "The technology is to blame."
The problem was thought to be caused by children pressing buttons on their 10-digit keypad, breaking the voting system and leaving it to a hand count. The results will be posted out to participants after the Department of Culture and Sport counts them.
The event aimed to give young people of Glasgow a voice to express what they want changed about the city. One previous Young Scot success saw the age limit for entry to gyms lowered to 14.
Dodson said: "Young people sometimes get a bit of stick. A lot gets promoted about the negativity and bad stuff. We hope that some of the things that were said today will be used to make Glasgow a more vibrant city."
Geoff Nyembo, 16, who is from the Congo but lives in Scotstoun, said: "Glasgow is great. All the entertainment and the new things that are being built make it vibrant. I don't like the weather."
Lauren Ferguson, nine, from Yoker said: "It's got a lot of cinemas, which are quite good. I wish there was less litter."
Commenting on Wendy Alexander's reaction to the Cambuslang East by-election result where she described it as an "excellent result" despite the Labour vote crashing to 28% from 50% in May 2007, Central Scotland MSP Christina McKelvie said it was a massive blunder by Ms Alexander since if such a result was replicated across Scotland it would leave Labour with only 5 Scottish Parliamentary constituencies.
Commenting Ms McKelvie said:
"This was a hollow victory for Labour. In nine months Labour has gone from winning 50% of the votes in this seat to winning only 28%.
"Labour secured this seat by only 132 votes in what should be a Labour heartland. Support for Labour in South Lanarkshire has nearly halved under the leadership of Wendy Alexander.
"It is a massive blunder for Wendy Alexander to describe this result as 'excellent'. If it were replicated across Scotland for the Scottish Parliamentary election Labour would be left with 5 constituency seats at most."
ENDS
1. Report from Press Association, 7th October 2008 on Cambuslang East by-election:
'Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander hailed "an excellent result for the party".'
2. Cambuslang by-election
| Party | Votes | % | Change |
| SNP | 609 | 23% | n/c |
| Labour | 725 | 28% | -22% |
| Tory | 80 | 3% | -6% |
| LibDem | 580 | 22% | 8% |
| Other | 600 | 23% | 20% |
| TOTAL | 2594 |
Result at Stage 7
| SNP | 962 |
| Labour | 1094 |
3. The above result equals an 11% swing from Labour to the SNP.
If such a straightforward swing were replicated at the Scottish Parliament elections Labour would only hold five seats - Motherwell & Wishaw, Glasgow Springburn, Glasgow Baillieston, Glasgow Pollok and Paisley North (and only just by 0.03%).
4. Running total of all council by-elections since May 07:
| Party | Votes | % | Changes |
| SNP | 7297 | 34% | +1% |
| Labour | 4948 | 23% | -6% |
| Tory | 3047 | 14% | -1% |
| LibDem | 2644 | 12% | 2% |
| Other | 3330 | 16% | 4% |
| TOTAL | 21266 |
The firm behind last year's election fiasco has been blamed again after a local council by-election was thrown into disarray.
More than 100,000 votes were not counted in last May's debacle but fewer than 3000 were involved in the latest count, which saw the declaration abandoned overnight in South Lanarkshire.
Only 2594 votes were cast in South Lanarkshire Council's Cambuslang East ward on Thursday but candidates had to wait until noon yesterday to find out the result after the system could not process the data once the votes were counted.
It emerged the software that was being used by DRS, the firm used to supply the equipment and staff for the count, did not work because the licence had expired. The same counting software was used for the Cambuslang East count as that used in last May's Holyrood election.
In January, DRS snubbed the parliamentary inquiry into May's voting fiasco by refusing to appear before MSPs to give evidence. The company said at the time it had to "regrettably decline" the request for oral evidence and that the "quantity of information" it provided to a previous inquiry made an appearance at Holyrood unnecessary.
Labour gained the Cambuslang seat from the SNP with 725 first preference votes to 609, boosting their numbers to 31 in the council they run as a minority administration. Yesterday, South Lanarkshire Council said DRS Solutions was responsible for the counting of votes and was unable to confirm the results, prompting the returning officer to adjourn until the next day.
It became clear the company did not have a licence for the software needed to process the votes into final totals for each of the candidates. Yesterday DRS, based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, claimed it was using the system in partnership with Electoral Reform Services which did not make it aware there was a problem with the licence.
However, Electoral Reform Services said it was unaware DRS was still using the system and had no knowledge of any problem at the South Lanarkshire by-election.
Scotland Central SNP MSP Christina McKelvie condemned the count problems as an "utter shambles". She said: "No lessons have been learned from election night in May. DRS claims the problem was caused because the licence for the software was out of date. That is simply not an acceptable excuse."
Ms McKelvie added: "DRS look completely incapable of performing a simple count in one council ward never mind running a nationwide election.
"I will be taking this up with DRS, South Lanarkshire Council and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) to find out why yet another election was allowed to descend into a complete farce."
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission raised concern about the by-election vote which, as a council election, does not fall under its remit. "Following the 2007 Scottish elections, the Electoral Commission made clear our serious concerns about the future use of electronic counting. We set out the steps that needed to be taken, including measures to ensure transparency, security and accuracy," he told the BBC.
A South Lanarkshire Council spokeswoman said: "The system counted the votes but was unable to consolidate the data contained in the machine before printing out the result."
After consultation with candidates and agents, Archie Strang, the council chief executive, adjourned proceedings until noon yesterday.
A spokeswoman for DRS said the software it used was "the only approved software that can be used for this calculation and is provided on a sub-contracted basis by Electoral Reform Services (ERS).
"Unfortunately, despite prior agreement with ERS to use this software, the software licence included on the system was out of date and as a result, the E-STV software would not perform the necessary calculation. DRS was not made aware of this limitation."
ERS, however, said yesterday it was unaware that the software was still being used. A spokesman said: "We are not aware this has happened. We supplied the system for the election last year but are not aware they are still using it."
In a solid Labour area, the SNP were able to pick up the third seat in a three-member ward last year but following the death of local stalwart John Higgins it was always going to be difficult for the SNP to replicate that success.
Labour's Richard Tullett gained the seat despite a 22.5% drop in his party's first count vote share - a perverse side-effect of the single transferable vote system introduced for Scottish council elections last year.
The system is meant to achieve a proportional seats share-out but yesterday's result was for only one seat and so leaves Labour with all three of the ward's councillors.
Wendy Alexander, Labour's leader at Holyrood, welcomed her party's victory, saying: "A seat held by the SNP has gone to Labour.
"It is clear that voters in Cambuslang have not bought the SNP spin and realise it's Labour that best stands up for their interests."
The result gives Labour 31 of South Lanarkshire Council's 67 members. The SNP have 23, Scottish Conservatives eight, independents three and Liberal Democrats two.
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