UK Byelection triggered after vote to remove MP Margaret Ferrier
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Voters in the district had six weeks to sign a recall petition after Ferrier was removed from the Commons for 30 days for violating travel regulations during the lockdown.
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The SNP must set a byelection date once the commons reconvenes in September (UK parliament)
Citizens chose to remove Covid rule-breaker MP Margaret Ferrier, a former Scottish National Party member now-turned independent from her seat, prompting a byelection in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
Voters in the district had six weeks to sign a recall petition after Ferrier was removed from the Commons for 30 days for violating travel regulations during the lockdown.
The petition was signed by 11,896 of 81,124 (14%) qualified constituents, and more than 10% of eligible voters voted, sparking a byelection race that both Scottish Labour and the SNP see as a litmus test ahead of the next general election.
The SNP must set a byelection date once the Commons reconvene in early September.
Scottish Labour's deputy leader and Rutherglen campaign organizer Jackie Baillie believes the byelection should take place as soon as possible, preferably on the 5 of October after the Commons return from their summer holiday.
“The people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have waited long enough. Give them a say and name the day,” Baillie stated, adding that “For far too long the area has been failed – let down by two incompetent governments and left voiceless in parliament by their rule-breaking MP.
“Scottish Labour’s candidate Michael Shanks is ready to hit the ground running and be the local champion his home constituency deserves.”
Both parties consider this a shift in Scottish politics following Nicola Sturgeon's departure in February, in a swing seat between Labour and the SNP in prior elections.
Back in February, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the head of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and notorious fighter against Brexit and in favor of Scotland's independence, announced her resignation after almost a decade of holding the position.
Read more: Scottish government seeks independence vote in October 2023
Sturgeon's surprising announcement shocked the British political scene as she announced that in "my head and in my heart," she knew that this was the right time to depart her role as First Minister and leader of the SNP.
"This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment," Sturgeon said.
Polls show that the SNP's control is eroding as the party grapples with issues of transparency and governance related to the current police inquiry into its financial behavior, with Labour reaping the benefits. With no obvious path to a second independence referendum and the public distracted by cost-of-living worries, there are significant indicators that Scottish people are less likely to support a party based on their constitutional inclinations.
SNP leader and minister Humza Yousaf responded to the vote stating that “Every Labour candidate standing in Scotland – including here in Rutherglen and Hamilton West – does so on a regressive platform of maintaining among the very worst of Tory policies."
