 | 'Scotland is a rich country and its people are its greatest asset. Independence is what Scotland can have and independence is what would make Scotland flourish.' The late Alan Clark MP. |  |
| 'Scotland is a rich country and its people are its greatest asset. Independence is what Scotland can have and independence is what would make Scotland flourish.' The late Alan Clark MP. | |
The Scottish National Party won Angus District Council from the Conservatives in 1984 and have held it and its successor, Angus Unitary Council, ever since. In 1992, the Tories made something of a comeback in Scotland, and the SNP's hold of Angus Council was reduced to a majority of one. The SNP took 11 wards compared to seven for the Conservatives, one for the Liberal Democrats and two Independents on the 21 seat council.
In 1995, there were major boundary changes in Angus. The new Unitary Council was composed of the old Angus District Council plus two wards from Dundee and two new wards created from existing Angus and Dundee Wards. The Scottish National Party increased their one seat majority in Angus to 15 when they took 21 of the 26 wards in the new Council, with the Conservatives reduced to only two wards, the Liberal Democrats winning two and one going to an Independent.
In 1995, the new ward of Sidlaw East was won by the SNP's Francis Ellis with 655 votes, giving the SNP a 395 majority over Conservative Stuart Ramsay. Labour came third with 108 votes and the Greens fourth with 50.
In 1999, there were further boundary changes in Angus with the council gaining an extra three wards. Sidlaw East became Sidlaw East & Ashludie. The ward was won for the SNP by Catherine Ellis who had contested Sidlaw West in 1995, coming with 5 votes of winning the ward from Conservative Thomas Young.
In 1999, the previous Councillor for Sidlaw East, Francis Ellis, contested neighbouring Sidlaw West, where Conservative Councillor Thomas Young saw his 5 vote lead turned into a 377 majority for the SNP.
The Scottish National Party should be well satisfied with increasing their vote by 7.9 % in a council where they have been the establishment party for 15 years. Indeed this is their best by-election result in Angus since reorganisation following a 1.0 % decrease of their vote in Carnoustie East in 1997 and a 3.4 % increase in Monifieth West in the same year.
The Tories will undoubtedly be disappointed in this result, with a drop of 4.8 % in their vote on the same day that Michael Portillo was increasing their % vote in Kensington & Chelsea despite the presence of a Pro-Euro Conservative candidate. Activists may blame the 'Archer Factor' however the result merely reflects the Conservatives poor showing in the System 3 polls where their standing is down to 10 % and 9 % in the constituency and regional polls respectively.
The Liberal Democrats will be happy with taking 51 votes here as this was 10 votes more than their coalition partners Labour who were pushed into a poor fourth place with their vote down 9.3 % on May. While this is indeed a poor result for Labour, they need not worry too much about it. Once a secretary has put the results through the paper shredder, all evidence of Labour's defeat will disappear for ever more. (Just don't mention incriminating notebooks - I mentioned them once but I think I got away with it.....)
The turnout was 25.8 %, down from 59.5 % in May when the local council elections were held on the same day as the Scottish parliamentary elections. The SNP hold in Sidlaw East & Ashludie leaves the composition of Angus Council unchanged at 21 SNP, 3 Independents, 2 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour.
I am grateful to Aidan Thomson for the results.
| 25 th November 1999 | 6 th May 1999 | ||||||
 |
545 | 66.3 % | Catherine Ellis | |
1,102 | 58.4 % | |
 |
185 | 22.5 % | Kenneth Nicoll | |
515 | 27.3 % | |
 |
51 | 6.2 % | Frances Madden |  |
270 | 14.3 % | |
|
41 | 5.0 % | |||||
| SNP hold | SNP maj | 360 | 43.8 % | SNP hold | SNP maj | 587 | 31.1 % |
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