Independent candidate David Fraser is elected to represent the vacant Highland Council seat in super-close contest
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Independent candidate David Fraser has been elected to represent the Aird and Loch Ness ward on the narrowest of margins.
The newly minted Councillor Fraser was ahead at the first stage with 997 votes – just three ahead of Gordon Shanks of the SNP on 994.
In third place was the Conservative's Gavin Berkenheger with 824; followed by Martin Robertson of the Lib Dems (300); the Green's Ryan MacKintosh polled at 272 and Labour’s Bill Moore got 133 votes.
Voting was by the single transferable vote and David Fraser emerged as the winner at the 6th stage of the count.
The turnout was 35.1 per cent.
The detailed by-election results will be published on Monday on the council’s website
Cllr Fraser will now take up his seat alongside the three other councillors representing the ward – Helen Carmichael (Independent), Margaret Davidson (Independent) and Emma Knox (Scottish National Party).
Speaking after the result, Cllr Fraser said: “I am obviously delighted to have been elected to represent the ward.
"It is a tremendous honour, so my thanks to everybody for that.
“Yes, it was very very close right to the end, there were a number of good candidates in the field and I eventually got more votes.
“I think people were raising good topics throughout the campaign and voters were clearly attracted to that.
“It was a pretty impressive turnout during a pandemic and for a by-election, visually there was little to show there was an election.
"But people made the effort to go out and vote – about half did a postal vote and half went to the polling station.”
With the election of Mr Fraser, the current political make-up of Highland Council is as follows:
Independent (27)
Independents for Independence (1)
Non-aligned (3)
Real Independent (1)
Scottish Conservative and Unionist (10)
Scottish Green Party (1)
Scottish Labour Party (3)
Scottish Liberal Democrats (9)
Scottish National Party (18)
Sutherland Independent Group (1)
