2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election

The 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election was a by-election that was held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Aberdeen Donside on Thursday 20 June, following the death from cancer of the constituency's MSP, Brian Adam.[1]

The seat was created as Aberdeen North following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. In the first election to the Scottish Parliament the seat was won by the Scottish Labour Party, but was gained by Brian Adam (who had contested, but lost, the seat in 1999) for the Scottish National Party in the next election. He held the seat in 2007 and 2011 with increased majorities. In the last election, Adam held the seat with a majority of 7,175 votes.

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP became the first ever majority government of the Scottish Parliament, winning 69 seats out of 129. Prior to Adam's death, however, the SNP only held a majority of one (following the election of Tricia Marwick as presiding officer and the departure of three other MSPs). This meant that if the SNP lost the by-election then the government would lose its overall majority.

SNP list MSP for the North-East region, Mark McDonald, resigned his seat to contest the constituency by-election.[2] McDonald held the seat for the SNP, but with a significantly reduced majority on a lower turnout.

Result

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Nine candidates contested the election, with their detail published on 17 May 2013.[3]

Aberdeen Donside by-election, 20 June 2013
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Mark McDonald 9,814 41.98 −13.42
Labour Willie Young 7,789 33.32 4.82
Liberal Democrats Christine Jardine 1,940 8.30 3.10
Conservative Ross Thomson 1,791 7.66 −0.44
UKIP Otto Inglis 1,128 4.83 4.03
Scottish Green Rhonda Reekie 410 1.75 New
National Front Dave MacDonald 249 1.07 0.27
Scottish Christian Tom Morrow 222 0.95 New
SDA James Trolland 35 0.15 New
Majority 2,025 8.66 −18.2
Turnout 23,396 38.8
SNP hold Swing

Scottish Parliament election result, 2011

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Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Aberdeen Donside[4]
Notes:

Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A  Y or  N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
SNP  Y Brian Adam 14,790 55.4 10.6 14,526 54.2
Labour Barney Crockett 7,615 28.5 -3.2 6,237 23.3
Conservative Ross Thomson 2,166 8.1 0.6 2,076 7.7
Liberal Democrats Millie McLeod 1,606 6.0 -10.0 1,390 5.2
Scottish Green   683 2.5
All Scotland Pensioners Party 544 2.0
Socialist Labour   231 0.9
Scottish Socialist   220 0.8
UKIP   217 0.8
Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship" 210 0.8
BNP   177 0.7
Independent David Henderson 317 1.2 New 77 0.3
National Front Christopher Willett 213 0.8 New 135 0.5
Independent - John Cox 38 0.1
Solidarity   17 0.1
Independent - Andrew McBride 8 0.03
Angus Independent Representatives 6 0.02
Total valid votes 26,707 26,792

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Aberdeen SNP MSP Brian Adam dies aged 64". BBC News. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  2. ^ Urquhart, Frank (14 May 2013). "Aberdeen Donside by-election: SNP MSP quits Holyrood". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  3. ^ Urquhart, Frank (17 May 2013). "Nine candidates confirmed for Donside by-election". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Declaration of regional votes cast in a constituency". Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.