Tories humiliated in Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election as they lose deposit

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Tories have been humiliated in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election as they lost their deposit.The party did awfully, winning only 3.9 per cent of the vote.Candidate Thomas Kerr picked up 1,192 of the 30,477 votes cast.The party had not expected to win but they picked up less than a quarter of their 2019 vote.At the last general election the Tories won 15 per cent and over 8,000 votes.Their result was 11.1 per cent down.Kerr is the leader of the Tories of Glasgow City Council.In an overwhelming victory, Labour's Michael Shanks won the seat from the SNP, taking nearly 60 per cent of the vote.Shanks won 17,845 votes, which was 58.6 per cent.

It was a 20.4 per cent swing from the SNP.It was a terrible night for the SNP, as their candidate Katy Loudon only won 8,399, which was 27.6 per cent.All other parties lost their deposit, with the Lib Dems coming fourth.

They won 895, which was 2.9 per cent. The vote took place more than three years after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier broke Covid rules.The polls opened at 7am on Thursday morning and closed at 10pm.

Counting took place at South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters in Hamilton.Ferrier was ousted as an MP in August after she received a 30-day ban from the House of Commons. To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.