Local By-elections

'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.

Claggan & Glen Spean (Highland) 21 st August 1997

1996 was an exceptionally good year for the SNP group on Highland council. They increased their representation from 9 to 13 as a result of a by-election gains and defections from Labour and Independents. In 1997, the trend has been reversed with the loss of first the Beauly ward and now Claggan and Glen Spean to Independents.

The result is yet another proof that in the Highlands, personalities count much more than mere party labels.

The by-election was contested by 3 Independents, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP. Two Independents battled for first place, with only 10 votes (1.2%) between the two candidates. Labour had one of their best local government by-election results since reorganisation. From not standing in 1995, they came third with over 20 % of the vote. The SNP vote crashed by 27 % and they fell from first to fourth place. In fifth was a third Independent with the Lib Dems coming last.

The composition of Highland Council (with the April 1995 figure in brackets) is: Independents 48 (49); Scottish National Party 11 (9); Labour 5 (6); Liberal Democrats 4 (4); Liberals 2 (2); Conservatives 1 (1); and Scottish Labour 1 (1).

Claggan & Glen Spean

21 st August 1997				6 th April 1995
	Ind	239	28.3 %	Iain MacDonald		320	40.1 %
	Ind	229	27.1 %	Jackson Anderson	Ind	207	25.9%
		182	21.5 %	Maureen Fraser	Ind	167	20.9 %
		111	13.1	Alexander Mackin	Ind	104	13.0%
	Ind	54	6.4 %
Ian Mackenzie		30	3.6 %
Ind gain from SNP	Ind maj.	10	1.2 %	SNP gain	SNP maj.	113	14.2%

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