 | 'The shine is off New Labour in Scotland - they can't get their activists to work, their voters to turn out, or their MPs to believe what Blair says. Every indication on the doorstep is that Labour's vote is softer than ever - and that what people want now to believe in is a better, independent future for Scotland.' SNP Chief Executive, Mr Michael Russell, 11 th October 1996. |  |
In the most sensational local by-election result of the year, the Scottish National Party won the Harbour ward of Edinburgh council from Labour, overturning a 544 majority to win by 45 votes. The Labour vote fell by over 20% and there was a swing of 15.8% from Labour to the SNP.
The fall of Harbour to the SNP follows the massive 28% drop in the Labour vote at Toryglen in August and occurred on the same night as the Labour loss of a Greenock ward in Inverclyde to the Liberal Democrats.
Labour appears to have lost credibility over their repeated referendum U-turns and the problems of the previous councillor for this ward could not have helped their chances. The Liberal Democrats also benefited from Labour's decline, increasing their votes by 6% while the Tories were beaten into 5 th place behind the Scottish Socialist Alliance.
In a press release, the SNP's chief executive Mr Michael Russell said:
'This is a sensational result for the SNP, taking the Harbour ward from Labour with a swing of 16 per cent.
'The SNP are now back in Edinburgh politics, and our new councillor - Rob Munn - will be a first class representative for Harbour, and a powerful advocate for the SNP, on the city council.'
Commenting on tonight's three by-election results, Mr Russell added :
'The shine is off New Labour in Scotland - they can't get their activists to work, their voters to turn out, or their MPs to believe what Blair says. Every indication on the doorstep is that Labour's vote is softer than ever - and that what people want now to believe in is a better, independent future for Scotland.'
In a press release the Scottish Socialist Alliance's Dyane Blake said:
'With only 50 odd votes in it, the 96 votes the Scottish Socialist Alliance candidate, Gavin Brown, polled proved decisive.
'The Scottish Socialist Alliance is confidant that the role it has played in exposing the New Labour traitors will not be forgotten by both the victors and the defeated in this by-election.'
The Edinburgh Evening News covered the by-election result as a front page leader:
SCOTTISH nationalists were jubilant today after snatching a key council seat from Labour at an Edinburgh by-election.
The SNP claimed their shock victory was down to public anger against the council over issues like the scrapping of bin bags as well as Labour's U-turn on a devolution referendum.
Rob Munn won by a majority of 45 in Leith's Harbour ward, previously held by disgraced Labour councillor Spike Wilson, who embezzled £4570 from a prostitutes support group.
The result is a serious blow to Labour, who took more than 50% of the votes there just last year.
And it is particularly embarrassing for them since the ward is in the heart of Leith, the constituency of Labour's constitutional spokesman Malcolm Chisholm.
Mr. Munn (35), who becomes the capital's sole SNP councillor, said people had been angry about:
Mr. Munn added: 'I will be speaking up against the extravagances and trying to get the council back to the priorities of looking after the core services people need.'
SNP leader Alex Salmond said it was a sensational result.
'We expected to increase our vote,' he said. 'But we didn't realise what a political earthquake there was going to be in Leith.
'Edinburgh was one of the few councils where we did not have a seat and it is of enormous importance for us to have that representation in the Capital city.'
The SNP has been riding high in the opinion polls since Labour announced its plans for a two-question referendum on devolution.
Mr Salmond added: 'It's one in the eye for Malcolm Chisholm. This was by no means our best ward.'
The turn-out in the by-election was 26.7%.
Labour leader Councillor Keith Geddes said the Spike Wilson factor was a major factor in the result.
He said: 'We are obviously disappointed. The circumstances leading up to this by-election did not help Labour's case.'
He claimed that the Scottish Socialist Alliance had helped the SNP to victory.
SSA candidate Gavin Brown, son of former Leith MP Ron Brown, took 96 votes, beating the Tories into last place with just 72 votes.
The Liberal Democrats were pleased to have increased their share of the vote from 9 to 15 per cent.
Labour's defeated candidate Phil Attridge said: 'It was a good, clean fight. They worked hard and they won it.'
Labour lost another Scottish council seat last night when Liberal Democrats in Inverclyde overturned a Labour majority of 129 to romp home with a majority of 529.
In Dollar the Tories held on to a seat despite a strong SNP challenge.
The results make no difference to the Labour control of all three councils.
LABOUR has suffered a setback in local government after losing two seats in Scottish council by-elections.
Its most embarrassing loss was in the party's most 'prized' council of Edinburgh, where the Scottish National Party gained its first seat on the unitary authority. Labour's second loss was to the Liberal Democrats in Inverclyde.
The Scottish Labour Party blamed its defeat in the capital on the behaviour of the councillor who previously held the seat Derick ('Spike') Wilson. He was recently convicted of embezzling £4,560 from a prostitutes' support group SHIVA.
Labour's share of the vote in the Edinburgh Harbour ward fell from 55.8 per cent at the council election in April (1995) to 35.3 per cent in the poll on Thursday. The turnout was substantially down, but the SNP's candidate, Rob Munn, increased its share of the vote by more than 11 per cent.
The Scottish Socialist Alliance claimed that Labour had lost because a decisive section of the electorate had defected to the alliance.
Keith Geddes, the leader of the city council, said parties had traditionally suffered from the actions of previous holders of seats. But there was also no doubt that the difficult budget decisions the council had been required to take had an effect on voters.
Labour's voting share was almost halved in two other by-elections on the same day, in Inverclyde and Clackmannanshire. In Inverclyde, Labour lost to the Lib Dems, whose representation on the council has been increased to six. The Lib Dem vote rose from 40 per cent to 61.8 per cent. It won by 529 votes, compared with Labour's 129 majority in April (1995).
The Conservatives held on to their only seat on Clackmannanshire Council. In the Dollar ward the fought off a challenge from the SNP by increasing their majority. The Tories' share of the popular vote rose by 6.5 per cent.
The rise in Tory support was not reflected in the Edinburgh seat. Its voting share there fell from 8 per cent to 4.9 per cent.
A spokesman at the Scottish Labour Party's headquarters in Glasgow said it did not regard the by-election as a test of opinion on the party's performance generally. He pointed out that turnout was low.
Michael Russell, the SNP's chief executive, described the Edinburgh result as a 'sensational' one for the SNP and said the party was now back in Edinburgh politics. He claimed that 'new' Labour had performed abysmally, with its vote collapsing in all three by elections.
Jim Wallace, the leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, said the party had again proved its capacity to win.
| 10 th October 1996 | 6 th April 1995 | ||||||
| Robert Munn |  | 567 | 38.3% | Derick Wilson |  | 1,061 | 55.8% |
| Philip Attridge | | 522 | 35.3% | Robert Munn | | 517 | 27.2% |
 | 221 | 15.0% | Alastair Chisolm | | 171 | 9.0% | |
| Gavin Brown |  | 96 | 6.5% | William Briody |  | 153 | 8.0% |
| 72 | 4.9% | |||||
| SNP gain from Labour | SNP maj | 45 | 3.0% | Lab gain | Lab maj. | 544 | 28.6% |
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