Ruth Davidson, the Conservatives' lesbian candidate in the Glasgow North-East by-election has just beaten British National Party's (BNP) Charlie Baillie in the race for third place. The Labour candidate Willie Bain comfortably won the seat that was previously held by former Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin.
The seat became vacant five months ago when the then Speaker, now Lord Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn resigned over his handling of MP's expenses.
The results were as follows:-
1) Willie Bain, (Labour) 12,231 votes
2) David Kerr (SNP) 4,120
3) Ruth Davidson (Conservative Party) 1,075
4) Charlie Baillie (BNP) 1.013
5) Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity) 794
6) Eileen Baxendale (LD) 474
7) David Doherty (Green) 332
8) John Smeaton (Jury Team) 258
There were five other candidates (full result below).
The BNP have never fought a by-election in Scotland before and some commentators credit their relative success at this election to the appearance on the BBC's Question Time by leader Nick Griffin. During the count, the BBC were reporting that the BNP had secured third place.
Willie Bain hailed the result, saying: "It's a great endorsement for Gordon Brown in his efforts to set the economy back on track and it shows the General Election is very much game on."
Later he said: "I want to thank my neighbours, now my constituents. You have placed your trust in me, I promise you that I will never let you down."
Conservative candidate, Ms Davidson just held her deposit for the election securing 5.22% of the vote. She lives with her partner in Partick and had promised that if elected she would not claim for food, furniture or household goods.
Ms Davidson said she does not often speak about her sexuality because "it's not the most interesting part of my life".
According to the Sun, she said: "I don't believe sexuality is an issue now. In terms of the Conservative Party, we saw in July of this year David Cameron standing up in front of Stonewall and saying, 'Look, we apologise for Section 28. We got it wrong'.
"It was an unequivocal apology on the subject.
"In terms of coming out I had my first female partner about four or five years ago. I was open about it at the time and I'm open about it now. But I don't tend to talk about it because it's not the most interesting part of my life, you know? Some people are gay and that's it."
Local police are investigating two alleged cases of voting fraud after the same voters turned up to vote on multiple occasions.
Pink News
By-election SP:
Lab 12231 (59.3%)
SNP 4120 (19.96%)
Con 1075 (5.2%)
---lost deps----
BNP 1013 (4.9%)
Sol 794 (3.8%)
LDM 474 (2.3%)
Grn 332 (1.6%)
JTm 256 (1.3%)
SSP 152 (0.7%)
Hug 54 (0.3%)
SLP 47 (0.2%)
Ind 32 (0.2%)
ILT 13 (0.2%)
Turnout 33.02%
43 spoiled ballots.
20,638 valid votes.
Lab majority 8,111
Con saved deposit by 43 votes
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14 comments:
So much for the BNP's 'quiet revolution' in the 'perfect storm'.
BWAhahahah!
Lost deposit? Oh dear. :D
Oh dear, the nasties lost their deposit. What a shame *
*insert sarcasm and much laughter here
4.9% is still too many people voting for fascists. And I don't think the BNP have had such a success north of the border before. So thats bad.
Only 62 votes behind the Tories - and thus 62 votes from a 3rd place! If they had got 3rd place in a Parliamentary election in Scotland, then the fascists would have been very pleased indeed, I think. :(
So in this circumstance they are neck and neck for the right wing vote with the Tories. Did the reactionary homophobic Scottish Christian right, who had a frighteningly successful mass mobilisation for their 'keep clause 28' campaign a few years back mobilise behind the BNP against the Tory Lesbian candidate? And what about the orange types?
On the other hand, other factors would have worked to make the BNP's vote in this Scottish constituency lower than in England. The SNP is still the main nationalist party - (although historically a progressive, left and anti-racist one). Although experiencing it in government, administering capitalist attacks on the people must have taken the shine off it, preventing it breaking through and ousting Labour from the seat.
Also, popular local socialist Tommy Sheridan stood for Solidarity, getting only around 1% less than the BNP, with his 3.8%. His candidature would have prevented the BNP picking up so many votes from working class people alienated from Labour, a feature lacking in many English constituencies. Tommy is still a working class hero to many, after being jailed for resistance to the Poll Tax, and much more with the SSP. Would have been great to see Tommy beat the BNP into 4th. But I guess their was a big Labour campaign. As the general election draws closer, and we face the threat of a Tory govt, maybe minor left parties will get squeezed by Labour? But will the BNP be squeezed by the Tories?
So without these local conditions, is the BNP vote rising or falling after the quisling BBC giving them their Question Time publicity boost?
Barrykade
Mystery of BNP venue
Published Date: 13 November 2009
By Emma Harris
THE BNP has refused to release details of where its conference will begin tomorrow.
It is believed the event will be staged in Blackpool, but the party will only confirm the date and that it will be held in the North West.
The event has been hosted by the New Kimberley Hotel, South Promenade, for the past three years.
Hotel bosses have refused to say if it will be held there tomorrow, but earlier this year management did say they would be prepared to cater for the event.
Police say they have not been made aware of the location of the conference – which will be taking place on the same day as soldiers from 12 Regiment Royal Artillery are welcomed home to the resort from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, with a special parade and service.
A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said: "Our events and planning department has not been made aware of the location of the BNP conference this weekend."
The Unite Against Fascism North West group said it believed the conference was due to take place in Blackpool, but was not aware of the exact location.
Paul Jenkins, regional organiser, said: "In previous years, it has been held at the New Kimberley but we do not know if this is the case again this time.
"We have heard a few rumours, but nothing substantial at the moment."
Local BNP organiser James Clayton told The Gazette the venue was being 'kept under wraps'.
He said: "The conference is this weekend, but I cannot confirm whether it is in Blackpool or not.
"As far as I know, it will be held somewhere in the North West. I don't even know where it is being held yet."
Earlier this year, the BNP said it would definitely be holding its next conference in the resort, after its 'victory rally' took place at the New Kimberley in June.
The controversial right wing party was celebrating its success at the European Parliament elections.
Extra police were drafted in as anti-fascist groups held a protest outside the South Promenade hotel.
BNP leader Nick Griffin was elected as North West MEP in June.
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Mystery-of-BNP-venue.5821088.jp
Still not thier highest percentage ( Burns, Auchinleck 2003) despite all thier recent coverage, lol.
The BNP vote has increased but only by 93 votes compared to 2005.
Factors which helped them win fourth place are the low turnout and the fragmentation of the socialist left vote.
The BNP should be very disappointed with this result. They've never had better publicity than they've had this year, the economy is a mess -traditionally good for the far far right yet, they fought a very visible campaign and probably worked much harder than the other parties yet all they gained were an extra 93 votes.
Bear in mind that people do use by elections as a means of protest which should have helped the BNP a lot more than it did. In the general election next year I'd expect their vote to drop back down to below even it's 2005 level. Another lost deposit!
Baillie yesterday
“I confidently predict that we shall easily save our deposit and possibly more."
Ahem.
@ Barry Kade
Yes it is worrying for us antifascists alike to see the BNP coming in close to third in this by-election, but even so, they would had to accumalate over 4000-1200 votes to even make some sort of significant impact in Scotland. With Labour having a majority of over 8000 voters, a BNP breakthrough is an impossibility, but we still need to keep a very close eye on 'em
The most important thing about this result is that the BNP lost their deposit
We need to focus on that rather than discussing any of the parties the BNP beat
As the general election draws closer, and we face the threat of a Tory govt, maybe minor left parties will get squeezed by Labour? But will the BNP be squeezed by the Tories?
The BNP get most of their votes off Labour. A few wc Tories might go back and forth but by and large the BNP (and the NF before them) fortunes wax and wane upon Labour's popularity (or otherwise). You are confusing the BNP with UKIP ps. there is nothing left of the 'minor left' parties to squeeze!
Its still cause for concern it would be madness to ignore the rise of these Nazis.
Jen.
jefferson will be crying in his blog no doubt
Hate to admit it but I think this has to be considered a good result for the fascists, especially in Scotland where, traditionally, fascist groups have performed terribly. They undoubtedly got a "bounce" from the enormous publicity surrounding Question Time. The BNP must be considered a minor party as they have around 10,000 members and poll around 3% nationally. However, in terms of publicity and media attention they are ahead of UKIP, The Greens and even, arguably, the Lib Dems. The mainstream media, which the BNP profess to despise, do play a large part in sustaining them.
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