The SNP came “frustratingly close” to winning the Hamilton by-election, First Minister John Swinney has said.
Scottish Labour’s Davy Russell won a surprise victory on Thursday, with the SNP coming second and Reform in third.
The by-election had been sparked by the death of Scottish Government minister and SNP MSP, Christina McKelvie, who had held the seat since 2011, with the party hoping to keep it in the fold.
Despite the First Minister’s claim that the contest was a straight fight between the SNP and Nigel Farage’s surging Reform UK, the Labour candidate won with 8,559 votes to the 7,957 of the SNP’s Katy Loudon.
Speaking to the PA news agency in Glasgow, the First Minister said the party had made “modest progress” since its collapse at last year’s general election – when it dropped from 48 MPs to just nine – but had further to go.
“We had a very strong campaign in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse,” he said.
“We had hundreds of members of the party that came to make their contribution to the by-election campaign – we’ve got to build on that.
“We’ve got to learn the lessons of the by-election.
“We came very close, it was frustratingly close.”
Coming second in the vote, the First Minister said, is an “indication that we are still able to perform strongly electorally”.
The First Minister added that his party lost the overlapping seat at Westminster – Hamilton and Clyde Valley – by 9,000 votes last year and by just 600 on Thursday.
“So, we are quite clearly in a position where we can achieve electoral success, but we have got to build on that and make sure we’re stronger for 2026,” he said.
In the final weeks of the campaign, the First Minister predicted the contest would be between his party and Reform UK but, asked if such an assertion – which turned out to be wrong – cast doubt on the data used by the SNP, he appeared to suggest it was based on his own perception.
“I’m just making two points about the by-election, two observations,” he said.
“One was that Labour support was collapsing, and from last year to Thursday, Labour support collapsed by 20%, came down from 50% to 30%.
“And I observed, secondly, that Reform support was surging and it was, so my analysis of the by-election was absolutely correct.
“I simply said to people if you want to stop Reform, vote for the SNP.”
Despite the by-election loss, the party continues to lead in the polls ahead of next year, with Mr Swinney saying the Government must “deliver on the priorities of the people of Scotland”.
