List of Scottish parliamentary by-elections
Encyclopedia
This is a list of by-election
s to the Scottish Parliament
, in reverse chronological order.
Where seats changed political party at the by-election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour
gain, yellow for a Scottish National Party
(SNP) gain, blue for a Conservative
gain, orange for a Liberal Democrat, and grey for any other gain.
!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Glasgow
1
|6 February 2009
|Bashir Ahmad
|Anne McLaughlin
|Death
|-
|Lothians
1
|31 August 2007
|Stefan Tymkewycz
|Shirley-Anne Somerville
|Resignation to concentrate on Edinburgh
City Council work
|-
|colspan=9|
!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Moray
|27 April 2006
|Margaret Ewing
|Richard Lochhead
|Death (breast cancer
)
|-
|Highlands and Islands
1
|19 April 2006
|Mary Scanlon
|Dave Petrie
|Resignation in order to fight Moray
|-
|North East Scotland
1
|19 April 2006
|Richard Lochhead
|Maureen Watt
|Resignation in order to fight Moray
|-
|Glasgow Cathcart
|29 September 2005
|Mike Watson
|Charlie Gordon
|Scandal (convicted of fire-raising)
|-
|South of Scotland
1
|22 June 2005
|David Mundell
|Derek Brownlee
|Resignation (elected as MP
)
|-
|Mid Scotland and Fife
1
|10 January 2005
|Keith Raffan
|Andrew Arbuckle
|Resignation (health)
|-
|colspan=9|
!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Mid Scotland and Fife
1
|14 August 2001
|Nick Johnston
|Murdo Fraser
|Resignation (ill health)
|-
|Banff and Buchan
|7 June 2001
|Alex Salmond
|Stewart Stevenson
|Resignation
|-
|Strathkelvin and Bearsden
|7 June 2001
|Sam Galbraith
|Brian Fitzpatrick
|Resignation (health reasons)
|-
|Glasgow Anniesland
|23 November 2000
|Donald Dewar
|Bill Butler
|Death (brain hemorrhage)
|- bgcolor=lightblue
|Ayr
|16 March 20002
|Ian Welsh
|John Scott
|Resignation (family reasons)
|-
|colspan=9|
|}
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, in reverse chronological order.
Where seats changed political party at the by-election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
gain, yellow for a Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) gain, blue for a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
gain, orange for a Liberal Democrat, and grey for any other gain.
2007 - 2011 Parliamentary term
|-!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Glasgow
Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament , which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|6 February 2009
|Bashir Ahmad
Bashir Ahmad (politician)
Bashir Ahmad was a Scottish National Party politician. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Glasgow region at the 2007 election, and was the first MSP to be elected from an Asian-Scots or Muslim background. Ahmed was a prominent and well respected figure in Parliament and in...
|Anne McLaughlin
Anne McLaughlin
Anne McLaughlin is a Scottish National Party politician and was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow between 2009 and 2011...
|Death
|-
|Lothians
Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
The Lothians was one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2011. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|31 August 2007
|Stefan Tymkewycz
Stefan Tymkewycz
Stefan Tymkewycz is a Scottish National Party politician, and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothians region. He was elected during the 2007 election for the Lothians region. Tymkewycz is also a councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston ward on the City of Edinburgh Council, and...
|Shirley-Anne Somerville
Shirley-Anne Somerville
Shirley-Anne Somerville was a Scottish politician and SNP MSP for the Lothians region from 2007 to 2011.-Early life:Somerville was born on 2 September 1974 in Kirkcaldy and attended Kirkcaldy High School, followed by the University of Strathclyde, where she took a B.A...
|Resignation to concentrate on Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
City Council work
|-
|colspan=9|
2003 - 2007 Parliamentary term
|-!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Moray
Moray by-election, 2006
A by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament was held on 27 April 2006 following the death of the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament Margaret Ewing on 21 March 2006, from breast cancer...
|27 April 2006
|Margaret Ewing
Margaret Ewing
Margaret Anne Ewing was a Scottish National Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament...
|Richard Lochhead
Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Moray.-Background and early career:...
|Death (breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
)
|-
|Highlands and Islands
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament .The...
1
|19 April 2006
|Mary Scanlon
Mary Scanlon
Mary Scanlon is a Conservative politician, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands region from 1999 to 2006 and since 2007....
|Dave Petrie
Dave Petrie
David Dick Petrie was a Scottish Conservative & Unionist politician, and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands Region....
|Resignation in order to fight Moray
Moray by-election, 2006
A by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament was held on 27 April 2006 following the death of the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament Margaret Ewing on 21 March 2006, from breast cancer...
|-
|North East Scotland
North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
North East Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|19 April 2006
|Richard Lochhead
Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Moray.-Background and early career:...
|Maureen Watt
Maureen Watt
Maureen Watt is a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland since 2006.Born in Aberdeen to a farming family, she was a secondary school teacher in Social Studies in England and moved back to Scotland to work in the oil sector.She was sworn in as MSP on 19...
|Resignation in order to fight Moray
Moray by-election, 2006
A by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament was held on 27 April 2006 following the death of the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament Margaret Ewing on 21 March 2006, from breast cancer...
|-
|Glasgow Cathcart
Glasgow Cathcart by-election, 2005
The Glasgow Cathcart by-election to the Scottish Parliament was held on 29 September 2005. It was caused by the resignation from the Scottish Parliament of Mike Watson, who won the seat at both the 1999 and 2003 elections....
|29 September 2005
|Mike Watson
Mike Watson
Michael Goodall Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie, known as Mike Watson, is a former British Labour Party politician...
|Charlie Gordon
Charlie Gordon
Charles Gordon is a Scottish Labour Party politician. He is the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Cathcart....
|Scandal (convicted of fire-raising)
|-
|South of Scotland
South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
South of Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|22 June 2005
|David Mundell
David Mundell
David Gordon Mundell is a British Conservative politician and, since 2005, he has been the only Conservative Member of Parliament representing a Scottish Westminster constituency...
|Derek Brownlee
Derek Brownlee
Derek Brownlee is a Scottish accountant and politician, who is a former Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland Region .-Background:...
|Resignation (elected as MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
)
|-
|Mid Scotland and Fife
Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Mid Scotland and Fife is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|10 January 2005
|Keith Raffan
Keith Raffan
Keith William Twort Raffan, in Aberdeen, is a former Conservative Member of Parliament and Scottish Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish Parliament ....
|Andrew Arbuckle
Andrew Arbuckle
Andrew Arbuckle is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. He is a Fife councillor....
|Resignation (health)
|-
|colspan=9|
1999 - 2003 Parliamentary term
|-!By-election !! Date !! Incumbent !!colspan=2| Party !! Winner !!colspan=2| Party !! Cause
|-
|Mid Scotland and Fife
Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Mid Scotland and Fife is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
1
|14 August 2001
|Nick Johnston
Nick Johnston
Paul Nicholas Johnston is a Scottish politician.-Early life:He is the son of Joseph Leo Johnston and Winifred Vera Neale. He went to North Kesteven Grammar School in North Hykeham, Lincolnshire....
|Murdo Fraser
Murdo Fraser
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish politician and the current Deputy leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2001....
|Resignation (ill health)
|-
|Banff and Buchan
Banff and Buchan by-election, 2001
The Banff and Buchan by-election to the Scottish Parliament was held on June 7, 2001, the same day as a UK general election and also a Scottish Parliament by-election in Strathkelvin and Bearsden...
|7 June 2001
|Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
|Stewart Stevenson
Stewart Stevenson
Stewart Stevenson is a Scottish politician who became a member of the Scottish Parliament in 2001....
|Resignation
|-
|Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election, 2001
The Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election, 2001 was a by-election held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Strathkelvin and Bearsden on 7 June 2001, the same day as the UK general election and also a Scottish Parliament by-election in Banff and Buchan...
|7 June 2001
|Sam Galbraith
Sam Galbraith
Samuel Laird "Sam" Galbraith is a Scottish Labour Party politician. He is a former Member of Parliament and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament....
|Brian Fitzpatrick
Brian Fitzpatrick (Scottish politician)
Brian Fitzpatrick is a Scottish Labour Party politician. He attended St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic school in Glasgow before studying law at Glasgow University...
|Resignation (health reasons)
|-
|Glasgow Anniesland
|23 November 2000
|Donald Dewar
Donald Dewar
Donald Campbell Dewar was a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Scotland from 1966-1970, and then again from 1978 until his death in 2000. He served in Tony Blair's cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997-1999 and was instrumental in the creation...
|Bill Butler
|Death (brain hemorrhage)
|- bgcolor=lightblue
|Ayr
Ayr by-election, 2000
The Ayr by-election on March 16, 2000 was the first by-election for the Scottish Parliament that had been established the year previously. It was caused by the resignation of Ian Welsh who had been elected at the Scottish Parliamentary Election, 1999...
|16 March 20002
|Ian Welsh
Ian Welsh
Ian McWilliam Welsh is a Scottish politician who currently works as Chief Executive of Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland. After a brief career as a professional footballer, he was an English teacher and became a local councillor – serving twice as a council Leader...
|John Scott
John Scott (Scottish politician)
John Scott is a Scottish farmer and politician, and is a Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr.Born in Girvan, he has been MSP for Ayr since winning it in a by-election in 2000. He was returned in the 2003 parliamentary election and again, with an increased majority, in the 2007...
|Resignation (family reasons)
|-
|colspan=9|
- 1 - Replacement of a member elected from a region took place by taking the next member on the party's list, and did not involve a poll.
- 2 - Gain retained at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election.
|}