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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall

Nicola Sturgeon wins Glasgow Southside for SNP as Anas Sarwar challenge falls short

Nicola Sturgeon has seen off a challenge from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to be re-elected as an MSP for Glasgow Southside.

The SNP leader won more 19,735 votes - more than 60% of those cast - while Sarwar finished in second place with 10,279.

Tory candidate Kyle Thornton got 1,790 and Lib Dem candidate Carole Louise Ford just 504.

Far-right bigot Jayda Fransen was humiliated after winning just 46 votes.

Speaking after the result was announced at the Emirates Arena, Sturgeon said: "Yesterday the constituency was targeted by far-right thugs, the far-right thug that led that confrontation got 46 votes, and I am proud that once again that Glasgow Southside has shown the racists and the fascists that they are not welcome in Glasgow Southside, they are not welcome in Glasgow and they are not welcome anywhere in Scotland.

"And let that be a note of unity."

Sturgeon's party is on course to retain power at the Scottish Parliament but an overall election result won't be known until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

Sarwar - who took charge of Scottish Labour just nine weeks ago - opted to challenge the First Minister in her own constituency as a marker of his intention to rebuild the party.

But despite leading a spirited campaign, he was outpolled by Sturgeon, who has held the seat since 2007.

Speaking after the count, Sarwar told the BBC: "Every single time the far-right hate has tried to come to the southside, we as a community have united against them and rejected them.

"Myself and Nicola Sturgeon might have many differences of opinion politically but when it comes to fighting bigotry and hatred and intolerance we, and large parts of Scotland, are united against the fascists."

He said he was pleased with what he had achieved in Glasgow, saying Labour was "back on the pitch", increasing vote share by about 9%.

"I'm not pretending this journey is complete," he said. "I am not interested in building the opposition, I want to build the alternative."

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