 | 'Yet again, when actual votes are counted, New Labour proves to be much less popular than its spin doctors want us to believe.' SNP Chief Executive Michael Russell. |  |
| 'Yet again, when actual votes are counted, New Labour proves to be much less popular than its spin doctors want us to believe.' SNP Chief Executive Michael Russell. | |
Last year was a two way fight between Labour and the SNP but this time there were three additional candidates including the Scottish Socialist Alliance who took a respectable third place. The Tory and Liberal Democrat candidates could only manage 55 votes between them. The turnout was down 4% on April 1995.
Commenting on the result, SNP Chief Executive Michael Russell said
'Yet again, when actual votes are counted, New Labour proves to be much less popular than its spin doctors want us to believe.
'From over 80% of the vote in April 1995, Labour has dropped a massive 26 points and 600 votes while the SNP has increased both their share of the vote and actual votes, even in a low poll. Labour's General Secretary in Scotland today described his party's retreat on devolution as a 'tactical master stroke'. This result should send him home to think again.
'It is now obvious that Labour is desperately unpopular both on its Scottish agenda, and on its social agenda.
'The writing is on the wall for Tony Blair in Scotland, at a time when the Tories can only scrape an utterly humiliating 2% of the votes, and the completely irrelevant Liberal Democrats can't even muster the votes of a single close!'
| 8 th August 1996 | 6 th April 1995 | ||||||
| Jimmy Burke |  | 948 | 56.00 % | Hugh McKenna | | 1,595 | 82.43 % |
| Jim Byrne |  | 375 | 22.15 % | Carole Milligan | | 340 | 17.57 % |
| Rosie Kane |  | 315 | 18.61 % | ||||
| Bill Miller |  | 36 | 2.13 % | ||||
 | 19 | 1.12 % | |||||
| Lab hold | Lab maj | 573 | 33.85 % | Lab gain | Lab maj | 1255 | 64.86 % |
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