Counting under way in crucial Hamilton by-election

Polls have closed in the crucial Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.  

The votes are being counted and election officials say turnout was 44.2%, with a total of 27,155 votes cast on Thursday out of a possible electorate of 61,485.

Ballots will be verified at South Lanarkshire Council’s headquarters in Hamilton, and the result is expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

A number of high-profile figures in Scottish politics are observing the count, including Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie, Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan and Labour MSP Monica Lennon.

Speaking ahead of the declaration, Baillie said the result was “genuinely too close to call”.

“It’s been a really interesting by-election, but of course it’s one none of us wanted to happen because it came as a result of the sad death of Christina McKelvie,” Baillie told STV News.

“We’ve chapped countless doorsteps, delivered thousands of pieces of literature, and it now comes down to his count, and we just don’t know the result.”

Both SNP and Reform UK have said it’s a “straight contest” between their candidates, with both dismissing Scottish Labour candidate Davy Russell from the running.

But if these predictions are true, it would represent a massive change since the last Holyrood election in 2021, when Reform UK scored just 0.2% of votes in the region.

In 2021, the region cast 36,394 votes and ultimately re-elected long-standing SNP MSP Christina McKelvie for the third time.

She comfortably won the seat with 14,924 votes, making up 41% of the vote.

McKelvie’s Scottish Labour opponent was the runner up, with 25% of the vote (9,187).

Reform UK, which until recently was considered a fringe political party, scored only 58 votes for its candidate in 2021.

Baillie said she believes Labour is still in the race.

“The First Minister is adamanet about a lot of things, but he’s been proven wrong,” she said.

“The truth is he doesn’t know – nobody really knows. It will be the voters of Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse who tonight tell us what they think.”

The First Minister previously urged voters to back his party in order to “stop Farage”.

“People face a simple choice in this by-election,” Swinney said.

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“They can either vote for the SNP – elect an SNP MSP – or they will end up with a Reform MSP. That’s the simple choice.”

Reform are yet to win an election at any level in Scotland, but boasts a number of defected councillors.

During a visit to Scotland earlier this week, Farage himself said it was unlikely his party would win, despite recent polls suggesting Reform was second in voter preference in Scotland with just 11 months to go to the next Holyrood election.

The by-election comes just hours after the chairman of Reform UK quit, saying working to get the party elected was no longer “a good use of my time”.

Zia Yusuf’s decision follows a row in which he described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party’s newest MP as “dumb”.

The by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse was called after the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie. 

McKelvie announced in August last year that she would be taking medical leave due to treatment for secondary breast cancer.

She died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in March, aged 57.

Her successor to represent the seat in the Scottish Parliament will be announced on Friday after all votes are counted.

Polling stations opened at 7am on Thursday and closed at 10pm.

Full list of candidates

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