 | 'It is bad enough underfunding the service, but when you see the comparison with England and Wales it adds insult to injury. The Government is happy to say how good the police are, yet when it comes to the crunch they won't provide financial support for what we are trying to do.' Jack Urquhart, the president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, December 2 nd 1997. |  |
The result was a triumph for the Liberal Democrats who won this ward with 44.1 % of the vote after not even contesting it in April 1995. They overturned a Labour victory of 147 to win by 133 votes. The turnout was 31.5%, down from 41.4 % in April 1995. The victory comes only days after a 4 % rise in the Lib Dem's ratings in the December System 3 poll for the Herald bringing their share to 12 %, neck and neck with the Conservatives.
The victory is, on face value, an extremely dramatic one for the Liberal Democrats. In fact, the Liberal Democrat victor, now Cllr Angus Dick, was not unknown to the electors of Hilton as he contested the Regional Council ward of the same name as an Independent in 1994, coming third with 332 votes (27.1 %).
The Scottish National Party will be disappointed not to have done better here after a good result in the 1995 head to head contest with Labour. 1997 has not been a good year for the SNP in Highland as they have lost two by-elections to the Independents, although they still have two more councillors than they did in 1995 and form the second largest group on the council.
For the Conservatives, the result is an extremely poor one. A showing of under 5 % is hardly an augur for a comeback by the Scottish Tories.
For Labour, the result is a portent of disasters ahead.This is Labour's second local government by-election loss in a row, following three weeks on from their loss of the safe Rosyth West & Dockyard ward in Fife to the Scottish National Party. If Labour can lose two by-elections when it has a 27 % lead in the latest System 3 poll, what might happen when the Government hits mid term unpopularity must be a serious concern for Labour's council leaders.
After a very poor showing in the 1992 District Council elections, Labour did extremely well in the 1995 Unitary Council elections and gained outright control of 20 of the 29 mainland councils. If proportional representation is introduced for the 1999 elections, Labour would control 11 councils outright assuming the voting pattern was identical to that in 1995. Our predictions suggest that if the Labour vote falls back to the same level as in the 1992 District Council elections, Labour could lose outright control of all but two Councils, North Lanarkshire, and Glasgow, although it could be the largest group and share in the administration of a dozen other councils.
Following the by-election, the Liberal Democrats have taken over from Labour as the third largest group on Highland Council. The present council composition (with the April 1995 figure in brackets) is: Independents 48 (49); Scottish National Party 11 (9); Liberal Democrats 5 (4); Labour 4 (6); Liberals 2 (2); Conservatives 1 (1); and Scottish Labour 1 (1). NB, the Councillors for South East Caithness and Lochalsh are old style Liberals, not Liberal Democrats.
| 4 th December 1997 | 6 th April 1995 | ||||||
| Angus Dick |  | 374 | 44.1 % | Ann Darlington |  | 643 | 56.5 % |
| 241 | 28.4 % | Shirley Brogan |  | 496 | 43.5 % | |
| 196 | 23.1 % | |||||
 | 38 | 4.5 % | |||||
| Lib Dem gain from Lab | Lib Dem maj. | 133 | 15.7 % | Lab gain | Lab maj. | 147 | 13.0 % |
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