 | 'The leader of Fife Council has denied that the Henry McLeish controversy was the reason behind Labour losing overall control of the authority.' BBC Scotland News, 4 th October 2002. |  |
| 'The leader of Fife Council has denied that the Henry McLeish controversy was the reason behind Labour losing overall control of the authority.' BBC Scotland News, 4 th October 2002. | |
A by-election was held in Kincardine, Culross & Low Valleyfield on the 2 nd February 2006 following the death of Labour Cllr Barbara Stocks in August 2002.
Kincardine, Culross & Low Valleyfield is in the new Dunfermline & West Fife Westminster parliamentary seat (held since February 2006 by Liberal Democrat William Rennie MP) and in the Dunfermline West Scottish parliamentary seat (held by Labour's Scott Barrie MSP).
Independent gain from Labour. Swing: 49.6 % Labour to Independent.
| 3 rd October 2002 By-election Turnout 40.0 % (- 18.5 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Ferguson |  |
Independent | 710 | 55.1 % | (+ 55.1 %) |
| Hugh Lambie |  |
Labour | 271 | 21.0 % | - 44.1 % |
| Ian Chisholm |  |
Scottish National Party | 244 | 18.9 % | - 16.0 % |
| Gordon Campbell |  |
Liberal Democrat | 35 | 2.7 % | (+ 2.7 %) |
| Dennis Halligan |  |
Conservative | 29 | 2.2 % | (+ 2.2 %) |
| Independent gain from Labour | |
Independent majority | 439 | 34.1 % | + 8.2 |
| 6 th May 1999 Turnout 58.5 % (+ 7.8 %) | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cllr Barbara Stocks | |
Labour | 1,281 | 65.1 % | + 2.1 |
| Neil Paterson | |
Scottish National Party | 686 | 34.9 % | (+ 34.9 %) |
| Labour win | |
Labour majority | 595 | 30.2 % | + 4.3 |
| 6 th April 1995 Turnout 50.7 % | |||||
| Candidate | Logo | Party | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbara Stocks | |
Labour | 974 | 63.0 % | |
| William O'Connor | |
Independent | 573 | 37.0 % | |
| Labour win | |
Labour majority | 401 | 25.9 % | |
The leader of Fife Council has denied that the Henry McLeish controversy was the reason behind Labour losing overall control of the authority.
The council is evenly split after an independent candidate, William Ferguson, won a by-election in the Kincardine, Culross and Low Valleyfield ward.
The council leader, Christine May, admitted Labour locally had a lot of work to do in the run-up to the Scottish parliamentary elections next May.
Mr McLeish, who resigned as first minister amid a row over office expenses, does not plan to seek re-election to the parliament's Central Fife seat.
The by-election defeat was the third for Labour in Fife this year.
Ms May told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There was obviously a very strong local candidate, even though our candidate was strong too.
"There were particular local issues which decided the outcome, but we need to consider other messages that we received from local people."
'Not an issue'
The former first minister saga had not played a part in the by-election defeat, she said.
"From the people I spoke to, it (the McLeish affair) was not an issue, it was the local issues."
The council leader said she was determined to administer by "consensus" in the interests of all residents.
Labour has held overall control in modern local government history since re-organisation in 1995.
The seat became vacant when Labour councillor Barbara Stocks died in August.
Mr Ferguson received 55% of the votes.
Of the 78 seats on the council, half are Labour, 21 are Liberal Democrats, the SNP has 11, three are Tories and two are independents.
The others are held by the Democratic Left Party and the Communist Party.
Results
William Ferguson (Ind.) 710
Hugh Lambie (Lab) 271
Ian Chisholm (SNP) 244
Gordon Campbell (Lib Dem) 35
Dennis Halligan (Con.) 29
The Labour Party in Scotland, especially in the Kingdom of Fife, are singing the blues. Scottish and Fife Labour chiefs have to come to terms with the fact that they have now lost overall control of Fife Council. A traditional Labour stronghold, obviously too long taken for granted, Fife Council is now evenly split after last Thursday's 'shock' (it wasn't) by-election result in Kincardine, Culross and Low Valleyfield, which saw a strong local independent candidate, William Ferguson, Chairman of Kincardine Community Council, take the seat with a substantial majority. Labour was pushed into second place, just ahead of the SNP candidate Ian Chisholm with the LibDem and Tory candidates only reaching 64 votes between them.
The full result was: William Ferguson (Independent) 710; Roger Lambie (Labour) 271; Ian Chisholm (Scottish National Party) 244; Gordon Campbell (LibDem) 35; Dennis Halligan (Conservative) 29.
Labour has controlled Fife Council since reorganisation in 1995 and before that ran Fife Regional Council. This is the third by-election loss for Labour in Fife this year. The McLeish 'Officegate Affair' and the Third Age 'scandal' have obviously led voters to back whichever party or in the case of Kincardine, Culross and Low Valleyfield, whichever individual will defeat Labour. Fife Council SNP leader David Alexander told The Flag - " The message is loud and clear; folk in Fife are fed-up with sleaze, jobs for the boys, huge pay rises for senior staff and the incompetence of the Labour administration and they will support anyone who is not Labour." Saying the Labour administration was in crisis; he added that it was time for the opposition to show their merit. He continued " The myth of Fife being a Labour stronghold is only a myth. At the last local election they only got 36% of the vote so it is only the voting system that gives them the power they've got."
Councillor Alexander hits the nail on the head, the present first-past-the-post-system normally works to Labour's advantage and you can put your shirt on Labour councillors fighting tooth-and-nail against any plans to introduce proportional representation for elections to Scottish Local Authorities.
The Labour party in Fife has received another blow after one of its councillors said he was quitting to become an independent.
The announcement comes a week after Labour lost overall control of Fife Council following a by-election.
Bob Taylor, who represents Auchmuty and Woodside West, said "irreconcilable differences" with his local branch had led to him being de-selected as a candidate for next year's council elections.
The Labour Party in Fife vowed to continue as a minority administration.
The by-election victory of independent William Ferguson in Kincardine, Culross and Low Valleyfield left the council evenly split but Mr Taylor's resignation means Labour now only controls 38 of the authority's 78 seats.
The remaining 40 seats are made up of 21 Liberal Democrats, 11 Scottish National Party councillors, three Tories, three independents, one Communist and one Democratic Left member.
Council leader Christine May pledged that Labour would not be looking to form any coalition and would continue as a minority administration until next May's local elections.
She said she was "sad" at Mr Taylor's decision to stand down as a Labour councillor after 18 years.
Labour has held overall control of Fife Council since local government reorganisation in 1995.
Considerable improvements
In the past year, however, the party has lost three by-elections and Mrs May admitted that the Officegate scandal surrounding former First Minister Henry McLeish had played a part.
But Mrs May insisted she was confident that Labour could win over the voters in Fife.
She said: "If people judge us on our record, then they will realise that considerable improvements have been delivered by Labour in Fife."
Mr Taylor, 54, who plans to stand as an independent candidate next year, said his criticism of Henry McLeish had been one of the factors leading to his fall-out with the Central Fife Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
He had appealed against the party's decision to de-select him but decided to resign before the process had been completed.
The retired college lecturer said: "I have been thinking the matter over for the last few days and I decided it would be difficult for me to fight the election within the CLP, so I decided it would be best that we went our separate ways."
Following his return from the Bournemouth Party Conference, Cllr Stuart Randall, Leader of Fife Council's Conservative Group, has called for a new era and the normalisation of politics in the Kingdom.
In the space of just 8 days Labour lost the formerly safe ward of Kincardine and then had one of their most experienced councillors defect to the newly-enlarged Independent Group. The balance of power now lies at 38/40 with Labour struggling on as a minority administration.
Cllr Stuart Randall says: "I said on 26 September that Labour was on the brink of collapse, but it's unravelling even faster than I expected. Christine May's response has been reminiscent of 'crisis, what crisis', with a shrug of the shoulders thrown in for good measure. Well, if she thinks Fife will default back to Labour at next year's local elections, I think she's in for a big surprise. Reliably-red Fife has become normal at last. If it gets any worse even Gordon Brown will have to spend time with his constituents!
"The fact is Fifers have had enough of Labour's cronyism, sleaze and spin and have shown themselves to be nobody's patsies. They won't loyally trot back like Labour's poodles and their votes should not be taken for granted by anyone, least of all Christine May.
"But the new political landscape in Fife brings huge responsibilities to the opposition parties, too. Every strong democracy needs real opposition of the kind that has been so lacking in Fife We must never forget that the Third Age Group and other scandals developed and festered for years right under the noses of Lib Dems on every committee and working group. Minority opposition parties like ours have given up expecting any sort of lead from them.
"Labour will have no trouble at all operating as a minority administration if the Lib Dems go on behaving as if they're in a Holyrood-style coalition already. It sent out a very dangerous message when they blindly supported Labour a few weeks ago and awarded chief officers huge pay rises before their performance was appraised. As Labour goes into meltdown, I can't help but think the Lib Dems are leaning back and hoping the weak will inherit.
"The new era brings big challenges for the new three-man Independent Group, too. They must demonstrate that they really are free of Labour's control and are not just camouflaged cronies. Willie Ferguson, the new member for Kincardine, Culross & Low Valleyfield, is of strong character and a guy we can do business with, but Cllrs Andrew Rodger and Bob Taylor have a long history of spouting good words then meekly backing the Administration. Now they have to show a true independent spirit, because Fife's voters will see through any stitch up."
Labour's political domination in Fife took a dent last week after a humiliating defeat in the Kincardine, Culross and Low Valleyfield council by-election.
The by-election, which was prompted by the death in August of Labour councillor Barbara Stocks, was expected to be a mere formality.
Local people appear to have thought differently. Independent candidate William Ferguson polled more than the others put together in Labour's third by-election defeat this year.
The defeat means that Labour loses the slender majority they had in Fife Council, but look set to retain control of the administration without resorting to coalition with another party.
Labour now control only half of the 78 council seats, Liberal Democrats hold 21 and the SNP 11. There are three Tories, and two are now independents.
Alex Maxwell of the Democratic Left Party and Willie Clarke for the Communist Party hold the remaining seats.
The Labour authority's reputation has been damaged by the recent 'Third Age' scandal, which brought down former first minister Henry McLeish.
Council leader, Christine May, was quick to rule this out as a reason for the latest defeat.
"From the people I spoke to," she said, "it was not an issue. There were particular local issues which decided the outcome, but we need to consider other messages that we received from local people."
The council now faces the prospect of attempting to function by consensus.
The likelihood is that it will still be only the Labour consensus that is given a fair hearing.
Results:
William Ferguson (Ind) 710
Hugh Lambie (Lab) 271
Ian Chisholm (SNP) 244
Gordon Campbell (LibDem) 35
Dennis Halligan (Con) 29
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