Billy McAllister tonight (Thursday) became the latest Scottish National Party Councillor following a stunning victory in the local by-election in Milton, Glasgow.

The SNP candidate came from second place and 20 percentage points behind Labour in 2003 to win this evening with a swing to the party of 15 percent.

The victory is the party’s first in a by-election in Glasgow in the eight years since 1998, and is the latest in a series of impressive SNP victories at local level across Scotland.  Since the 2005 General Election, when the SNP also gained seats, the SNP has now won 6 new seats in council by-elections, more than all the other parties put together. 

SNP Holyrood Leader and Glasgow MSP Nicola Sturgeon said after the result:

"Winning here despite a strong Labour campaign is a brilliant achievement for Billy, his campaign team and the party.  Most of all it’s a great day for the people of Milton who have elected a local councillor who will fight tirelessly for their interests in Glasgow City Council.

"What we’ve seen in Glasgow tonight is that the SNP can fight and win seats from Labour here in the Central Belt of Scotland.

"At the Scottish Parliament elections next year voters across the country will be faced with a simple choice between the SNP and Labour. They will have to decide whether to vote for an SNP Scottish Executive led by Alex Salmond with a vision of taking Scotland forward to Independence, or more of the same from a failing Labour-LibDem Executive under Jack McConnell.

"The clear evidence from tonight shows that when given this straight choice voters will decide to place their trust in the SNP."

Councillor Billy McAllister said:

"I’d like to thank the people of Milton for placing their trust in me today.  I’ll continue to work hard for all the people in this area and ensure that the complacent Labour party will no longer take them for granted.

"This victory demonstrates that when the SNP face Labour head to head we can and will win, and so this is a fantastic boost as we build to victory in next year’s Scottish elections."

Full Result

          Vote     %    % Change

SNP        773    49.6    +17.1

Labour     623    40.0    -12.6

SSP         93     5.9    - 4.7

LibDem      44     2.8    - 1.4

Con         29     1.6        -