Sturgeon triumphs, but majority dented as Labour doubles vote
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was overwhelmingly re-elected as MSP for Glasgow Southside in a hard-fought election campaign which saw both SNP and Scottish Labour supporters turn out in far higher numbers than at past Holyrood elections.
The SNP leader saw her vote rise from 15,287 at the 2016 election to 19,735. While her share of the vote was a massive 60 per cent, her majority over second place Labour dropped slightly by 1.2 per cent, after the party’s new leader Anas Sarwar opted to go head-to-head with Ms Sturgeon in the constituency seat.
Mr Sarwar saw Labour’s vote rise from 5,694 five years ago to 10,279 on Thursday, while its vote share leapt from 22.9 per cent to 31.3 per cent.
The Conservatives saw their vote share plummet from 12.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats also saw a large fall from 3.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Both results sparked speculation of tactical voting by Unionist voters in the seat.
In her acceptance speech, the First Minister said her party was ready to get back to work for a fourth term. She also took aim at far-right can
didates in the contest, one of whom confronted Ms Sturgeon outside a polling station on election day..
Ms Sturgeon said: “It’s the privilege of my life to represent the most multi-cultural and diverse constituency in the whole of Scotland and not for the first time it has been targeted by far right thugs … I am proud that once again Glasgow Southside has shown the racists and the fascists that they are not welcome.”