THE SNP have won the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election.
Lara Bird held the seat for her party, seeing off challenges from Labour, Reform, the Tories and the LibDems.
The barrister and part-time PhD student will succeed former MP Stephen Gethins, who quit the Commons after being elected to the Scottish Parliament last month.
The results saw a major shake up for the runners-up with Labour falling from second to fourth place, while the Tories moved into second place from third with Reform taking the bronze.
Bird increased the size of the SNP's majority, which had been 859 votes in 2024, to 5257 votes.
She took 9802 votes to the Tory candidate Jack Cruickshanks's 4524, while Reform's Bill Reid took 4341. Heather Doran for Labour got just 3651, down from 14,722 at the last election, while the LibDems' Tanvir Ahmad got 1452.
In a clear broadside against Reform, Bird said in her victory speech that voters in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry had "rejected the politics of division and hate that some tried to sow".
She added: "We have demonstrated that our community is inclusive, hopeful and proud and that while there are challenges that we must face, we will face them together and not allow others to turn us against each other.
"This by-election was about the future that we want for Scotland and the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry have once again made it clear that our future lies with independence.
"We have demanded more for our community and our nation than Westminster can ever offer us and with every day that passes, I become more certain that we will win our nation’s independence."
Her victory came hot on the heels of a major upset in Aberdeen South where the Tories took Stephen Flynn's former seat from the SNP.
In their first Scottish by-election victory since 1967, Douglas Lumsden beat the SNP's Richard Thomson with 14,308 votes to his 8258.
