Latest headlines
- Victory for the SNP with 63 seats - two short of a majority
- Conservatives are the second largest party on 31 seats - but Labour on 24 lost 13 seats
- Scottish Greens are the fourth largest party with six seats, ahead of the Lib Dems who won five
- See the changing political map of Scotland
Scoreboard
| Party | Candidates | Votes | % | Net percentage change in seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party SNP Scottish National Party | CandidatesRona MacKay | Votes17,060 | 43.5% | Net percentage change in seats+1.3 |
| Party CON Scottish Conservatives | CandidatesAndrew Polson | Votes8,960 | 22.9% | Net percentage change in seats+9.7 |
| Party LAB Scottish Labour | CandidatesMargaret McCarthy | Votes8,288 | 21.1% | Net percentage change in seats−15.8 |
| Party LD Scottish Lib Dems | CandidatesKaty Gordon | Votes4,880 | 12.5% | Net percentage change in seats+4.7 |
Change compared with 2011 | ||||
Turnout and Majority
Scottish National Party Majority
8,100Turnout
62.6%Constituency Profile
The eastern reaches of Bearsden - which is an affluent middle-class suburb lying five miles north-west of Glasgow - feature in this constituency. The seat also contains part of Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch, once centres for coal mining and metal founding.
Most of these traditional heavy industries are long gone, and the main sources of work are now found in book-publishing, construction, transport and agriculture, as well as in a growing number of firms in the light-industrial sector.
Sam Galbraith won the Holyrood seat for Labour in 1999 but stood down for health reasons in 2001. The by-election was held on the same day as the Westminster elections and Brian Fitzpatrick, former chief of staff to Scotland's first first minister Donald Dewar, took the seat. Retired local GP Dr Jean Turner then took the seat as an independent in the 2003 election. Labour Pre-took the seat at the 2007 Holyrood election, but lost it to the SNP's Fiona McLeod in 2011.
