Polls opened at 7am on Thursday in two crucial Scottish by-elections, with voters in Aberdeen South and the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency choosing new MPs after the SNP incumbents stepped down to take seats at Holyrood.
The contests were triggered when Stephen Flynn, who won Aberdeen South at the 2024 general election, and Stephen Gethins, who took the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry seat, resigned from Westminster to take up their places as MSPs last month.
“Voters in Aberdeen South and Arbroath & Broughty Ferry are choosing new MPs after SNP incumbents resigned for Holyrood seats.”
Flynn’s majority stood at nearly 4,000 votes; Gethins held his seat by around 900. Both men were SNP MPs, and their departure has handed the party’s rivals a chance to overturn those margins. In Aberdeen South, the Channel 4 News Scotland Correspondent Kathryn Samson reported that the race is already looking like a close contest between the Conservatives and the SNP, with the future of the oil and gas industry dominating the campaign.
The by-elections coincide with a third vote in Makerfield, Greater Manchester. Across all three, polling stations will remain open until 10pm. Unlike the recent Holyrood election, counting will take place overnight, with the results expected in the early hours of Friday. Voters are required to bring photo ID to cast their ballot.