The Conservatives have pulled off a historic win in the Aberdeen South by-election, taking the seat in what is their first by-election gain in Scotland since the 1970s. On the same night, the SNP held on to the seat of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, in a pair of UK parliamentary by-elections held in Scotland.
In Aberdeen South, the returning officer declared Douglas Lumsden of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party elected with 14,000 votes. The SNP's Richard Gordon Thompson came second on 8,258, giving the Conservatives a comfortable majority of around 6,000. Reform UK polled 2,478, the Scottish Liberal Democrats 1,270 and the Scottish Greens 974, with the total number of votes cast just under 29,000.
The result is significant well beyond the north-east of Scotland, as it marks the first Conservative by-election gain in Scotland in around half a century. Throughout the campaign, the contest had been framed as a referendum on the future of the oil and gas industry, which has long underpinned Aberdeen's economy.
In his victory speech, Lumsden told supporters and volunteers that the people of Aberdeen had spoken loud and clear, saying they had stopped the SNP and sent Labour a message that the destruction of the North Sea oil and gas industry must stop. He pledged to be a strong voice for the city, standing up for families and livelihoods against what he called short-sighted policies.
In the second contest, in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, the SNP held the seat as Lara Byrd was elected with 9,802 votes. The Conservatives finished second on 4,524, while Labour, who had been narrowly behind the SNP in the 2024 general election, were pushed down to fourth place, behind Reform UK. The SNP actually extended its majority compared with the general election.
In her own speech, Byrd said the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry had rejected what she described as the politics of division and hate, and that the community was inclusive, hopeful and proud. She said the by-election had been about the future, and that voters had once again made clear their belief that Scotland's future lies with independence.
Both seats had become vacant after sitting SNP MPs moved to the Scottish Parliament, triggering the by-elections. The contrasting outcomes, a historic Conservative gain in one seat and an SNP hold with an increased majority in the other, were declared within about ten minutes of each other, while the result of a separate by-election in Makerfield, in England, was still awaited.