Carmichael (South Lanarkshire) 3 rd September 1998

'For years we've been used to calling Labour local authorities 'one party states', but we never realised quite how right we were. The comparison with the decayed Communist bureaucracies of Eastern Europe becomes more apparent by the day. We knew about the cronyism, the nepotism and the factionalism; now with the revelations about the direct-labour organisations in councils such as North Lanarkshire, we find that many of the economic practices of municipal Scotland were just as bankrupt - in every sense of the word - as those of the command economies of Eastern Europe.' Iain MacWhirter in the Scotsman, 4 th June 1998.

Carmichael (South Lanarkshire) 3 rd September 1998

Carmichael is in the rural part of Clydesdale. This ward was previously an intense Conservative/Labour marginal which changed hands twice in the last two elections, in each case returning councillors with majorities of less than 100.

In 1992 the Conservatives gained the Clydesdale District Council ward of Carmichael from Labour when Patrick Ross-Taylor obtained a majority of 86 over J. Brownlie. The 1992 elections saw no less than six of the 16 wards on Clydesdale Council change hands with one Labour gain from the SNP, one SNP gain from Labour, one Labour gain from Independent, one Independent gain from Labour and two Conservative gains from Labour. Swings and roundabouts indeed.

In 1995, the new South Lanarkshire Unitary Council was made up from the old Clydesdale, East Kilbride and Hamilton District Councils and 13 new wards from existing Glasgow wards. It proved to be another Council where the real loser in the elections was democracy - Labour won 86 % of the wards with only 57 % of the vote.

The Carmichael ward on the new council reverted back to Labour when it was won by Violet Montgomery with a majority of 38 over District Councillor Patrick Ross-Taylor.

The by-election is caused by the resignation of Ms Montgomery. The reasons are not known but rumour has it that she felt some of her Labour colleagues had forgotten who had put them in power.

As announced in the Lanark Gazette the candidates were as follows:

Conservative: Patrick Ross-Taylor, the previous Conservative District Councillor.
Scottish National Party: Lindsay Addison, son of a local doctor
Labour: The favourite, until very recently, was Archie Clark, who has unsuccessfully contested local elections three times before. However he was unceremoniously ditched at the last moment and replaced with Thomas McKenna from Coalburn.

The other candidates were John Costello, Liberal Democrat and Adam Lawson, Independent. Mr Lawson, was deselected by the local Labour party last time round.

The word on the doorstep was that Labour were out whatever happened. The Tory campaign was extremely strong, with a lot of telephone canvassing and other contacts going on behind the scenes. As the former councillor had an excellent reputation, the local opinion was that if the Tories didn't win this ward following the victory in Dunblane it would be considered as a major set back for them.

In such Labour/Tory marginals, the SNP have often found their vote squeezed. However, in Silvertonhill, Lindsay Addison took the ward with 474 votes, with a single vote magin over the previous District Councillor, Patrick Ross-Taylor.

For Labour, the result was yet another humiliation, with their candidate, Thomas McKenna, coming third with a mere 185 votes, less than 15 % of the total votes cast.

Following the by-elections here and in Silvertonhill, the political composition of South Lanarkshire Council is 61 Labour, 9 Scottish National Party, 2 Conservatives and 2 Liberal Democrats.

SNP wins as Tories advance

The Scotsman, 4 th September 1998

Last nightÕs huge swing in the Carmichael ward pushed Labour into third place with 185 votes while the SNP pipped the Conservatives by a single vote - 473 to 474.

Labour had previously held the ward with 529 votes from the Conservatives on 491 and the SNP on 227.

In the Silvertonhill ward, the SNP saw its vote reduced from 792 votes to 539 but it held on against a strong Tory advance from 280 to 422.

Labour again fell into third, dropping from 625 to 307.

SNP Win Two South Lanarkshire By-Elections

'One Gain From Labour, One Hold - Labour Slump To Third'

SNP Press Release

Commenting on the results, SNP Chief Executive Mr Michael Russell said: "While the SNP continue to achieve record swings in by-elections, Labour's miserable 'Summer of Shambles' continues - with a 24 per cent swing to the SNP in Carmichael, and with the humiliation of falling into third place in both by-elections.

"The Carmichael ward was a Labour/Tory marginal, yet the SNP advanced from only 18 per cent last time to win the seat, with the Tory vote also falling.

"Despite enormous efforts by the Tories - who have won virtually nothing in Scotland in the last ten years, but who used to hold both these seats - the SNP have come out on top. All parts of Scotland continue to look to Scotland's Party - the SNP - for effective representation and a fresh start."

Carmichael

3 rd September 1998				6 th April 1995
Lindsay Addison		474	37.8 %	Violet Montgomery		529	42.4 %
Patrick Ross-Taylor		473	37.7 %	Patrick Ross-Taylor		491	39.4 %
Thomas McKenna		185	14.8 %	Ann Bain		227	18.2 %
Adam Lawson	Ind Lab	105	8.4 %
John Costello		17	1.4 %
SNP gain from Lab	SNP maj.	1	0.1 %	Lab gain	Lab maj.	38	3.0 %