SNP retain control of Dundee City Council after double by-election victory

The SNP have retained control of Dundee City Council after winning the Strathmartine and Lochee by-elections.

Voters in the two wards went to the polls on Thursday.

The by-elections were called following SNP council chief John Alexander’s decision to quit politics and the death of Labour’s Charlie Malone earlier this year.

Labour had been hopeful of securing a double Dundee victory, building on a closely fought Westminster election which saw them lose out to the SNP by just 675 votes.

But it proved to be a disappointing night for the party, who failed to win either ward.

The SNP subsequently increased their majority on the local authority. The nationalists now have 16 seats – up from the 15 they won at the last council election.

Strathmartine

The SNP candidate for Strathmartine, former Dundee councillor Jimmy Black, got 1,188 first preference votes in Thursday’s election.

Labour candidate Richard McCready – also a former councillor – recieved 911 votes.

This pushed Labour into third place behind the Liberal Democrats. Their candidate Jenny Blain got 912 votes.

Voter turnout was 22.3%.

Speaking to The Courier after his victory, Mr Black said it was a closely fought battle.

“We wanted to keep control of the council because there is a lot of things we haven’t yet achieved”, he said.

“This way the council administration continues to be stable and we get to work on the things that need to be done.”

Mr Black said housing would be his top priority and said it’s crucial more homes are built in the city.

He also believed the SNP’s victory in the Strathmartine ward could signal an upturn in fortunes for the party.

He added: “The winter fuel allowance came up on many doors and we didn’t have to prompt it.

“People are shocked that the Labour government abolished it in the way they did and I think their popularity is decreasing.

“From now on, I think (the SNP) can grow again. The trend has been reversed.”

Lochee

The SNP candidate in Lochee, Lee Mills, got 1,203 votes in Thursday’s poll.

Labour candidate Marty Smith received 1,148 votes.

The Conservative candidate Calum Walker came third with 219 votes.

Alba candidate Alan Ross, who had been joined on the campaign trail by former First Minister Alex Salmond, got 178 votes.

And John Reddy, candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain, recieved 143 votes.

Voter turnout in the ward was 21.4%.

Mr Mills said he wanted to go “back to basics” as a councillor and see clean streets and safe housing.

The 26-year-old added: “When we were on the doors, the support was confidently SNP.

“There was a strong message to Keir Starmer from the people of Dundee so it’s not a surprising result.

“Team Dundee SNP never stop chapping doors and we never take any vote for granted.”