Seven candidates to fight West Lothian council by-election in November

Whitburn's community council chair among the candidates for seat vacated by newly elected MP Kirsteen Sullivan

Seven candidates have put their names forward to contest the Whitburn ward seat vacated by Councillor Kirsteen Sullivan in a November by-election.

They include the current chair of the town's Community Council and a former serving councillor.

Councillor Sullivan was elected as Labour MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow in July having served the Whitburn and Blackburn ward on West Lothian Council since 2017 alongside Labour veteran George Paul.

David Blackie Russell will defend the seat for Labour, facing an independent candidate in local community council chairman Tam Lynch.

Bruce Fairbairn held one of the four ward seats for the Tories from 2017 to 2022. Charles Kennedy hopes to regain that, standing for the Conservatives. He served as a Tory councillor in Bathgate from 2017 until 2022.

The contest will also see another bid for election by David McLennan, a Reform candidate in the recent General Election and also the neighbouring Armadale ward contest, and regular Green candidate and campaigner Cameron Glasgow.

The poll takes place on Thursday, 14 November. The deadline for voter registration is midnight on Tuesday 29 October.

The deadline for applying to vote by post in this by-election is 5pm on Wednesday, 30 October 2024.

You cannot apply online for a postal vote for this by-election. If you applied online for a postal vote for the General Election, you will not have a postal vote for the by-election.

You will need to download and complete a paper application form to apply for a postal vote for this by-election. If you are unsure if you have a postal vote in place for the by-election you can check by calling the Electoral Registration Office on 0131 344 2500.

The ward has four councillors, which after the 2022 local elections, were split between Labour and the SNP, Long serving councillor Jim Dickson was re-joined by his wife Mary who served as an SNP councillor until 2017.

The full list of candidates is:-

Aileen Brown - Scottish National Party (SNP)

Douglas Thomas Butler - Scottish Liberal Democrats

Cameron Glasgow - Scottish Greens

Charles Kennedy - Scottish Conservative and Unionist

Thomas Robert Lynch - Independent

David McLennan - Reform UK

David Blackie Russell - Scottish Labour Party

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