VOTERS in a number of council wards across Scotland are to take to the polls today (November 7) as the SNP look to defend four out of the five seats up for election.
Three will be taking place in Aberdeenshire while another two will take place in Elgin and Inverclyde.
There’s plenty of key talking points at each election with Alba’s general secretary Chris McEleny is among the candidates running in Inverclyde.
Here’s all you need to know.
Inverclyde West (Inverclyde Council)
The by-election in Inverclyde has been called after Labour’s Martin McCluskey stood down earlier this year after he was elected as the MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West.
Reform UK, Labour, the SNP, Alba and the Tories are all standing candidates here. McEleny (below) will be standing for Alba while the SNP’s candidate is Robert Kirkpatrick.
John Burleigh meanwhile is standing for Reform, Ian Hellyer for Labour and Ted Runciman for the Conservatives.
Counting will begin around 10am on Friday and a result is expected by around midday.
Fraserburgh and District (Aberdeenshire Council)
This seat was vacated by SNP MP Seamus Logan when he was elected at the General Election in July.
He defeated Douglas Ross to win his seat although Russell Findlay (below) will be looking for some success having recently taken over as Scottish Tory leader.
It comes after two councillors in Aberdeenshire joined Reform UK with Conrad Ritchie, who has run an engineering firm for more than 30 years, standing for the party.
Labour will not be standing any candidates in any of the Aberdeenshire seats.
Mearns (Aberdeenshire Council)
The resignation of former SNP councillor Kevin Stelfox triggered a by-election in this area.
Among the councillors representing this ward is Laurie Carnie, who recently joined the Reform UK party.
She made the switch along with former council leader Mark Findlater, who represents the Troup ward.
Central Buchan (Aberdeenshire Council)
Similarly, a by-election has also been called in this ward after SNP councillor David Mair stepped down.
Tory candidate Peter Chapman is looking to make a return to politics after quitting Holyrood in 2021.
Alba won’t be standing in this by-election, having decided not to stand in any of the contests in the north east.
Elgin City South (Moray Council)
Much like in Fraserburgh and District, this seat was vacated because of the election of Graham Leadbitter as the MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
According to the Press and Journal, the SNP are worried they could face trouble winning due to Unionist tactical voting.
One source told the paper: “The vote transfers are going to be risky. It’s going to be tricky.”
However, another party insider also said that they thought Labour would have won six weeks ago but that “they’re a bit stressed now”.
