The Scottish Conservatives have won a Westminster byelection for the first time in more than half a century, taking Aberdeen South from the SNP.
Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden won the seat, defeating SNP candidate Richard Thomson by more than 6,000 votes, with the Conservatives taking almost half of all ballots cast. The seat was vacated by the SNP's Stephen Flynn, now Scotland's economy secretary. Lumsden, a former oil and gas worker, said his constituents had sent a message that "the destruction of the oil and gas industry must stop now."
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the result "particularly significant," noting support from voters who had never backed the party before. Lumsden will resign from Holyrood within 49 days under rules banning dual mandates, with his seat passing to Fraserburgh councillor James Adams.
The same night, the SNP held Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with Lara Bird winning a majority of more than 5,000 votes over the Conservatives. Bird said voters had "rejected the politics of division and hate" and reaffirmed that Scotland's future "lies with independence." Labour slipped to fourth place in the constituency, with Reform UK in third.
South of the border, the same night saw Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham win the Makerfield byelection, a result widely seen as paving the way for a future leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.
The results come just six weeks after the SNP's comfortable victory in the Scottish election, and follow a turbulent period for the party after former chief executive Peter Murrell admitted to embezzling more than £400,000 of SNP funds.
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