Today, 19 June, the Conservatives’ Douglas Lumsden was announced the victor of the Aberdeen South by-election. This means that, for the first time in over half a century, the Scottish Tories have won a Westminster by-election.
Meanwhile, in a further turn-up for the books, Labour came fourth in both of last night’s Scottish by-elections, underscoring the party’s recent collapse. The SNP’s Lara Bird held the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry seat for her party. She took 9,802 votes, giving her a majority of nearly 5,000.
Notes for the English
For English readers, please be advised — this article is about to get very Scottish.
Remember that MP = Member of Parliament = Westminster, and MSP = Member of Scottish Parliament = Holyrood. As of the 7 May enforcement of the October 2025 amendments to the Scotland Act 1998, one person can’t be a member of both parliaments.
Unlike Westminster, the Scottish Parliament has 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional MSPs. There are 7 regional MSPs for each of the 8 regions of Scotland.
But of course, you knew all of that already, didn’t you? It’s a very negative stereotype that the English pay no attention to these things, really. I bet you even know the difference between the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government.
Scottish Tories and other omens
The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Stephen Flynn triggered the Aberdeen South contest by quitting his seat, along with fellow SNP member Stephen Gethins, formerly the MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.
Both Flynn and Gethins were elected to the Scottish Parliament on 7 May. However, under the dual mandate ban, members who temporarily hold two seats are given 49 days to choose which to retain. In this case, both chose Holyrood.
Somewhat ironically, the same also applies in reverse for Lumsden. The Scottish Tory contested Aberdeenshire East in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, coming second. However, he was then elected to represent North East Scotland via the regional list.
However, just six weeks after becoming an MSP, he contested (and won) the position as Aberdeen South MP. Lumsden took 14,308 votes, giving him a margin of around 6,000 over the SNP’s Richard Thomson in second place.
However, the newly-elected MP’s impending resignation from the Scottish Parliament won’t trigger yet another by-election. Instead, Fraserburgh councillor James Adams will take his place as the next candidate on the Conservatives’ North East Scotland list.
A victory for the fossil fuel industry
Lumsden centered his campaigning on his support for the fossil fuel industry. The topic is a major vote-winner in Aberdeen, the so-called ‘oil capital of Europe.’ As such, the seat’s new MP declared that his constituents had sent the message:
the destruction of the oil and gas industry must stop now.
The flagship public(ish)ly owned GB Energy is supposed to be headquartered in Aberdeen. However, whilst Labour announced the plans, they haven’t yet seen them through.
On social media, Flynn responded to the SNP’s loss of his former seat:
A tough night in Aberdeen that some will need to reflect on, quite heavily.
[Adding] We lost Aberdeen South to the Tories in 2017, and we won it back two years later.
I’ve no doubt that we can do so again. If we get things right.
The sudden loss comes just 6 weeks after the SNP won an easy victory in the Scottish Parliament elections.
Featured image via the Canary
By Grace
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