SCOTTISH Labour have held a council seat in Fife after their second by-election win of the day – beating the SNP by just two votes.
Fife Council has confirmed that Scottish Labour candidate Karen Beaton has been chosen to represent the West Fife and Coastal Villages ward, having been elected at stage seven of the contest.
The seat was vacated after Graeme Downie stepped down from his role after being elected as the MP for Dunfermline and Dollar.
The council confirmed the final figures on its Facebook page, which were as follows:
- Karen Beaton (Scottish Labour) - 881
- Paul Steele (SNP) - 879
- David Ross (Scottish Tories) - 426
- Paul Buchan-Quigley (LibDem) 227
- Fiona McOwan (Greens) - 128
- George Morton (Independent) - 64
- Danny Smith (Scottish Family Party) - 53
It comes after Labour also held a seat on West Dunbartonshire Council, which had also been vacated due to Douglas McAllister stepping down to become the MP for West Dunbartonshire.
Several by-elections have taken place in the past few weeks as a number of councillors resigned following the July General Election.
Scottish Labour also won three seats in Glasgow last week although polling expert Sir John Curtice told The National the underlying figures showed support for Labour is falling.
In a post on Twitter/X, Scottish Labour said: "Congratulations to our new Scottish Labour councillor for West Fife and Coastal Villages, Karen Beaton."
Writing on social media, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: "Two brilliant new Scottish Labour councillors winning in Kilpatrick and West Fife and Coastal Villages last night.
"It's time for a new direction with Scottish Labour."
