Liberal Democrats take Highland Council seat from SNP in by-election triumph
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE LIBERAL Democrats are celebrating after winning a Highland Council seat from the SNP in a close-run by-election.
Retired doctor Jean Davis took the Aird and Loch Ness seat vacated by former Highland Council leader Drew Hendry of the SNP.
Mr Hendry prompted the by-election after standing down following his Westminster parliamentary victory, which unseated one of the Lib Dem's highest profile casualties of the SNP surge, Danny Alexander.
Sixty-one-year-old Jean Davis emerged as the winner at the fourth and final stage of the count, gaining 1,511 votes against the SNP’s Emma Knox with 1,167 votes.
Former Yorkshire lass Jean Davis, who now lives in The Cairns at Muir of Ord, said she would give a voice to the many different communities in the ward.
She said: "I want to listen to the people in the individual communities because there are very much individual communities here and I want to help them to deliver what is important to them and make this a better place to live."
The Liberal Democrats straddled in fourth place in the last Highland Council election for the ward.
Inverness West Liberal Democrat councillor Alex Graham said the party's renewed success was "a big blow" for the SNP.
"They SNP will be bitterly disappointed," he said. "It’s a big blow to them that they failed to keep a seat they have represented since 2007. And it is not a good result for Drew Hendry MP that his party was unable to hold a seat that he vacated."
Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie, said it was "excellent news from the Highlands".
"Huge congratulations to Jean Davis and the local team who have worked their socks off," he said.
"This is the first time that the SNP have been beaten in a council by-election since the General Election and it is the Scottish Liberal Democrats that have done it.
"This was a seat held by the SNP’s former leader on Highland Council. This result is a clear endorsement of localism over the SNP centralisation agenda. It looks like the gloss is starting to come off the SNP in the Highlands."
Drew Hendry won the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey seat at the General Election in May, ousting former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander who had held the seat for a decade.
Mr Hendry overturned the 8,765 Liberal Democrat majority with his own majority of more than 10,000.
The SNP put the loss down to Tory votes.
A spokesman said: "Congratulations to Jean Davis. Despite a five per cent increase in our vote, this wasn’t enough for us to hold on to the seat we secured in this multi-member ward in 2012. The by-election was a close run contest up until the final stage when Tory votes swung to the Lib Dems."
The Aird and Loch Ness ward is made up of four members. The others are - Helen Carmichael (Ind), Margaret Davidson (Ind) and Hamish Wood (Lib Dem).
Voting was by the single transferable vote and the turnout was 32.35 per cent.
The representation of the 80-member council now is Independent - 32; Scottish National Party - 20; Liberal Democrat - 12; Labour - 8; Highland Alliance - 5. Three councillors are non-aligned.
The other candidates were George Cruickshank –Scottish Conservative and Unionist, Zofia Fraser – Independent and Vikki Tania Trelfer – Scottish Green Party.
