The Scottish Conservatives have won their first by-election since 1973, seizing Aberdeen South from the SNP in a contest Kemi Badenoch said sent a message to Labour and the SNP about the future of the oil and gas industry.
Douglas Lumsden, a former oil and gas worker, took the seat vacated by SNP MP Stephen Flynn with a majority of 6,000 and almost 50 per cent of the vote. Labour came fourth on just 5.4 per cent, behind Reform on 8.5 per cent.
“Scottish Tories win historic Aberdeen South by-election, seen as referendum on oil and gas.”
“We said at the start of this campaign that it is a referendum on the oil and gas industry and the people of Aberdeen have given a resounding answer that we back the oil and gas industry,” Lumsden told supporters.
The by-election was triggered when Flynn resigned from the Commons after being elected to Holyrood in the recent devolved elections, where he became Economy Secretary. He issued a statement calling it “a tough night in Aberdeen that some will need to reflect on, quite heavily”.
The scale of the defeat is an embarrassment for First Minister John Swinney, who acknowledged the anger in the north-east. “The Conservatives mobilised a campaign which was about capturing the understandable anger there is in Aberdeen and the northeast about the issues affecting the oil and gas sector,” he said. Swinney said he was trying to help the industry by urging Labour to scrap the Energy Profits Levy, which means operators hand over 78 per cent of their profits to the Treasury.
Badenoch, who made multiple visits to the constituency, told jubilant party activists: “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be able to welcome Douglas Lumsden to parliament.” The Conservative leader contrasted the result with the Makerfield by-election, where Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham won 55 per cent of the vote. “The Makerfield by-election was about one man’s job. The Aberdeen South by-election was about thousands of jobs all over the country but especially in the oil and gas sector.”
Badenoch added: “Aberdeen has sent a message to the Labour government and the SNP that we will not be ignored. The sector will not be ignored.” Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay described the result as a “sensational victory” and said it was a “referendum on oil and gas”.
Lumsden, who cannot sit in both parliaments due to a Holyrood ban on dual mandates, will resign from Holyrood just six weeks after winning re-election as a north-east MSP. The SNP claimed a victory of its own in the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election, where Lara Bird held the seat for the party.