Covid rule-breaking MP Margaret Ferrier has been ousted from her Scottish seat - sparking what is expected to be a fierce by-election battle between Labour and the SNP.
A petition to recall the MP from her seat of Rutherglen and Hamilton West, near Glasgow, passed the required number of signatures on Tuesday, meaning a by-election is now set to take place.
It will come as a test of whether Labour, under leader Sir Keir Starmer, can break through enough in Scotland to win the next General Election, and if the party can do so with a Commons majority.
The Conservative Party currently has a large majority in Westminster but lost two seats in by-elections in England last month, in a show of the country’s current political mood.
It saw Labour storm to victory in Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, beating the Conservatives by more than 4,100 votes to overturn a huge Tory majority.
Labour was just behind the SNP in Rutherglen and Hamilton West at the 2019 General Election, when it was beaten by just over 5,000 votes.
SNP candidate Ms Ferrier won with 23,775 votes (44.2%) , while Labour candidate Ged Killen received 18,545 (34.5%).
Result of the petition to remove Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Margaret Ferrier. Petition successful. Total electorate 81,123. Number of electors who validly signed the petition 11,896. Percentage of electors who validly signed the petition 14.66%. 37 returns were rejected.
— South Lanarkshire Council (@SouthLanCouncil) August 1, 2023
In June, Ms Ferrier was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days, beginning the recall petition process.
She had travelled from Scotland to Westminster after testing for Covid in September 2020 and went on to speak in the House of Commons while awaiting the results.
After the test confirmed she was positive for the virus, she took the train back to Scotland.
Originally elected as an SNP MP, she had the whip removed when her Covid rule-breaking came to light.
In September last year she was handed a 270-hour community payback order after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public “to the risk of infection, illness and death”.
The 62-year-old has resisted calls to resign from her seat, and urged her constituents not to sign the petition.
Voting in the recall petition - Scotland’s first - closed on Monday after six weeks.
It was validly signed by a total of 11,896 voters, it was announced on Tuesday evening.
South Lanarkshire Council, which administered the petition, tweeted: “Result of the petition to remove Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Margaret Ferrier.
“Petition successful. Total electorate 81,123. Number of electors who validly signed the petition 11,896. Percentage of electors who validly signed the petition 14.66%. 37 returns were rejected.”
A date for the by-election the vote has triggered is yet to be determined.
Ms Ferrier confirmed on Tuesday night she will not be standing.
In a statement to Sky News following the result, she said it had been a “difficult and taxing process” and she did not want to “prolong it further”.
First Minister and SNP leader Humza Yousaf has said the circumstances in Rutherglen and Hamilton West are “challenging” for his party, but it nevertheless has “solid support”.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said her party is confident of a victory in a by-election, saying a defeat would lead to deep “soul searching”.
She described the seat as an “important milestone” towards Labour’s aim of forming a majority government in the general election.
In 2019, Ms Ferrier won the constituency with a majority of 5,230, taking 44.2% of the vote.
