Urquhart wins seat as SNP run Liberal Democrats very close in Shetland list vote
John RobertsonThe SNP’s Jean Urquhart, who came third in the Shetland constituency election, has been elected to Holyrood on the regional list vote for the Highlands and Islands.
She will serve alongside colleagues John Finnie and Mike MacKenzie after the party secured a whopping 85,082 votes (47.5 per cent) of the list vote to Labour’s 25,884 (14.5 per cent) and the Conservatives’ 20,843 (11.6 per cent) and the Liberal Democrats’ 21,789 (12.1 per cent).
The SNP came a close second to the Lib Dems in the votes cast in Shetland for the Highlands and Islands regional list. Just 287 votes separated the Lib Dems on 2,975 and the SNP on 2,688.
Because of their victories, with sharply reduced majorities, in the Shetland and Orkney seats, the Lib Dems secured no list seats in the region.
The other parliamentarians elected on the list were Rhoda Grant and David Stewart for Labour and Jamie McGrigor and Mary Scanlon for the Conservatives.
Interestingly, more than double the number of islanders voted SNP with their second vote than for its candidate Jean Urquhart in the first-past-the-post vote.
Labour polled 974 votes with the Green Party on 699 and the Conservatives on 595 votes.
The turnout for the regional list vote in Shetland was 53.3 per cent, slightly below the 54 per cent who voted in the first-past-the-post contest. A total of 83 votes were rejected.
Meanwhile in mainland Scotland the Lib Dems have fared miserably, failing to win a single seat outwith Shetland and Orkney in the constituency election.
The SNP gained another two constituency seats in the Highlands from Tavish Scott’s party, taking Caithness, Sutherland and Ross following an 18 per cent fall in the Lib Dem vote and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch where the Lib Dems lost 11 per cent of their vote.
In Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) the sitting MSP Alasdair Allan of the SNP romped home, securing 65.3 per cent of the vote.
Votes received in the Highlands and Islands Region vote in Shetland:
| Registered Party
| Votes Given
|
| All Scotland Pensioners Party
| 170
|
| Ban Bankers Bonuses
| 153
|
| British National Party
| 66
|
| Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship”
| 196
|
| Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
| 595
|
| Scottish Green Party
| 699
|
| Scottish Labour Party
| 974
|
| Scottish Liberal Democrats
| 2975
|
| Scottish National Party (SNP)
| 2688
|
| Scottish Socialist Party
| 57
|
| Socialist Labour Party
| 65
|
| Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement
| 15
|
| The Liberal Party
| 319
|
| UK Independence Party
| 362
|
| TOTAL VALID VOTES
| 9334
|
Ron Stronach
I am glad I voted NO for the alternative vote, as I find it difficult to see how someone who was beaten into third place can end up being elected to serve the region?
James Stewart
Ron
Broad misconception there. Elections aren’t comparable to a 100m sprint. Under AV, the person who gets the broadest support from his or her community wins. In AV you can still vote for just one person, or however many are on the ballot. In FPTP, the person who is ‘least bad’ wins, in AV, the person who has the largest base of support wins. It’s an improvement by a mile.
The YES campaign was a disaster, very poorly run. It’s a shame because they have set back much-needed voting reform in this country for a generation.