Aberdeen Donside By-Election 21 June 2013 13/40 Ross Burnside and Andrew Aiton

The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Parliament Infor mation C entre l ogos.

Financial Scrutiny Unit Briefing Aberdeen Donside by-election 21 June 2013 13/40 Ross Burnside and Andrew Aiton

This briefing summarises the results of the Aberdeen Donside by-election held on Thursday 20 June 2013.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...... 3

ABERDEEN DONSIDE BY-ELECTON RESULT ...... 3

SHARE OF THE VOTE ...... 4

SOURCES ...... 7

RELATED BRIEFINGS ...... 8

INTRODUCTION This briefing summarises the result of the Aberdeen Donside by-election to the Scottish Parliament held on 20 June 2013. The by-election was triggered by the death of Brian Adam MSP who died on 25 April 2013 following a long illness. Mr Adam was a member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 until his death. In the 1999 election he was elected as a Regional Member for North East Scotland. In 2003, he won the Aberdeen North constituency with a majority of 457 and he held the seat in 2007 with an increased majority of 3,749. The Aberdeen North seat was renamed Aberdeen Donside for the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election and Mr Adam held the seat with a majority of 7,175.

Nine candidates stood in the Aberdeen Donside by-election. Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, Mark McDonald, had been elected as a regional MSP in the 2011 election, but resigned his seat in order to stand. Mark McDonald’s place as a regional MSP was taken by Christian Allard, who was sworn in as an MSP on 15 May 2013. Table 1 below presents the full list of candidates.

Table 1: List of candidates at the Aberdeen Donside by-election

Candidate Political Party Otto Inglis UK Independence Party (UKIP) Christine Jardine Scottish Liberal Democrats Dave MacDonald National Front Mark McDonald Scottish National Party (SNP) Tom Morrow Scottish Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship” Rhonda Reekie Scottish Green Party Ross Thomson Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party James Trolland Scottish Democratic Alliance Willie Young Scottish Labour Party

ABERDEEN DONSIDE BY-ELECTON RESULT Table 2 presents the Aberdeen Donside by-election result and compares it to the 2011 Scottish Parliament General Election result. Mark McDonald won the by-election for the SNP with 9,814 votes (42%) of the valid votes polled. The SNP majority fell from 7,175 in the previous 2011 election to 2,025 and their share of the vote fell by just over 13%. The Scottish Labour Party remained in 2nd place with 7,789 votes – an increase of 174 votes on 2011 which translated to a 4.8% increase in their share of the vote. The Scottish Liberal Democrats moved from 4th place in 2011 to 3rd with 1,940 votes and 8.3% of the vote. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist party were 4th with 1,791 votes, a fall of 375 votes on their 2011 result. Of the other parties competing, the next largest was the UK Independence Party which won 1,128 or 4.8% of the valid votes cast. There were four parties who stood in the by-election but had not stood in 2011 General Election, the largest of which was the Scottish Green Party who won 410 votes (1.8% of the vote). The full list of Candidates, votes and % share are presented in table 2.

The total number of votes cast fell from 2011 by 3,449. The size of the electorate increased from 56,145 in 2011 to 60,242 in 2013. The increased electoral size and reduced number of votes cast contributed to a fall in turnout of 9% (from 47.8% in 2011 to 38.8% in the 2013 by- election).

Table 2: Aberdeen Donside by-election result, compared with 2011 General Election

Candidate Party 2011 Election June 2013 by- Change since (candidates differ election 2011 Election from 2011) Votes % Votes % Votes % share share* share* +/- +/- Otto Inglis UK n/a n/a 1,128 4.8% Independence Party (UKIP) Christine Scottish 1,606 6.0% 1,940 8.3% +334 +2.3% Jardine Liberal Democrats Dave National Front 213 0.8% 249 1.1% +36 +0.3% MacDonald Mark Scottish 14,790 55.2% 9,814 42.0% -4,976 -13.2% McDonald National Party (SNP) Tom Scottish n/a n/a 222 1.0% Morrow Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship” Rhonda Scottish n/a n/a 410 1.8% Reekie Green Party Ross Scottish 2,166 8.1% 1,791 7.7% -375 -0.4% Thomson Conservative and Unionist Party James Scottish n/a n/a 35 0.2% Trolland Democratic Alliance Willie Scottish 7,615 28.5% 7,789 33.3% +174 +4.8% Young Labour Party Total valid votes 26,761 100% 23,378 100% -3,383 Rejected votes 84 18 -66 Total votes (incl. rejected) 26,845 23,396 -3,449 Turnout (%) 47.8% 38.8% -9.0% * % share may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Source: Aberdeen City Council 2013

SHARE OF THE VOTE The share of the vote by party is presented in figure 1 below – parties who won less the 5% of the vote are included in “other” in this and subsequent figures.

Figure 1: Aberdeen Donside by-election – % share of the vote

42.0% 33.3%

7.7% 8.3% 8.8%

Scottish Scottish Labour Scottish Liberal Scottish National Other Conservative Party Democrats Party and Unionist

The change in the number of votes received by each party in Aberdeen Donside between the Scottish Parliament General Election of 2011 and the by-election is presented in figure 2. As mentioned above, the total number of votes cast fell from 2011. Of the parties polling above 5% of the vote share, the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats increased their number of votes, whilst the SNP and Scottish Conservatives saw a fall in their number of votes. The other parties combined saw an increase in their vote numbers of 1,460. Four of these “other” parties standing in the by-election had not stood in 2011.

Figure 2: Change in number of votes by party, 2011-2013

+174 +334 +1,460

-375

-4,976

Scottish Scottish Labour Scottish Liberal Scottish Other Conservative Party Democrats National Party and Unionist

As figure 3 shows, Labour obtained the largest increase of any single political party in the percentage share of the vote compared with their 2011 result.

Figure 3: % change in share of the vote, 2011-2013

+4.8% +6.6% +2.3% -0.4%

-13.2%

Scottish Scottish Labour Scottish Liberal Scottish National Other Conservative & Party Democrats Party (SNP) Unionist Party

As already mentioned, turnout was down by 9% on the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary General election (see figure 4).

Figure 4: Turnout, 2011 and 2013

SOURCES Aberdeen City Council. (2013) Scottish Parliament election declaration of constituency result. Aberdeen: Aberdeen City Council. Available at: http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=51024&sID=23053

RELATED BRIEFINGS SB 11-29 Election 2011 briefing

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