Image source, Getty Images

Reform have been hailing their third-place result as a remarkable success - but the campaign was marked with controversy. Here's a reminder.

Leader Nigel Farage defended a party advert about Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which Sarwar and First Minister John Swinney called "blatantly racist".

The advert, posted on Facebook and Instagram, featured clips of a 2022 speech Sarwar gave, external at an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence.

At the event, he talked about wanting to see more people from the South Asian community involved in politics.

Reform added text to the video claiming that Sarwar wanted to "prioritise the Pakistani community" - despite the Glasgow MSP not saying that in any of the clips.

At a press conference in London, Farage played the video and accused Sarwar of introducing "sectarianism" into Scottish politics, which Sarwar said was "absolute nonsense".

Image source, PA Media

We are now hearing reaction from the SNP leader and first minister John Swinney who has been speaking to the media in Edinburgh.

He says the SNP has made some progress but not enough since the general election last year.

The first minister tells reporters says the party has to do more to address the priorities of the people of Scotland and address concerns about the cost of living and NHS waiting times.

Reaction to last night's by-election has been coming thick and fast - here's a flavour of what each of the parties have had to say:

• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that the results shows voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse have led the way to a change in Scottish government next year and that Davy Russell will make a "phenomenal" MSP.
• SNP leader and first minister, John Swinney, says his party has "work to do" - this is the second by-election their candidate Katy Loudon has lost in recent years.
• Deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice called his party's third place finish "truly remarkable" adding they'd "come from nowhere".
• While Scottish Conservative MSP, Miles Briggs said it was a "difficult" night for his party and they fell victim to "protest voting".
• Kenny MacAskill, leader of the Alba party, criticised the SNP for failing to hold the seat, adding the narrowness of the Labour victory showed his pro-independence party was right not to field a candidate.
• The Scottish Greens and Liberal Democrats have not commented.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Talking of shock results for the team in red – the bookies were offering longer odds on a Labour win last night (11/1) than they were on Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup final against Celtic (8/1).

Image source, PA Media

Though he spoke to a number of journalists during the campaign, Davy Russell kept a low profile when it came to live media - declining to appear on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme and avoiding a TV debate.

Asked why this was, Anas Sarwar says Russell has no "dislike of the media" but instead chose to focus on his community.

He says: "In Davy Russell, we had a candidate and now an MSP that cares about his community, understands his community and is a champion for his community and that is ultimately what people voted for.

"They were not voting for a TV personality, they were not voting for a celebrity personality. What they were looking for was one of their own."

He said his party have learned "fantastic lessons" from this campaign, adding he's "never seen a campaign where the divide from the national conversation and what’s happening on the ground has been so stark."

Earlier Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told the BBC that those who voted Reform should be separated into a few different categories.

He said there were people who felt, due to the "national mood music", Reform was the only way to beat the SNP.

There were also those who have "legitimate concerns that governments don’t work" for them, he said, and so chose "the most destructive option". Sarwar said he heard from countless "very nice, decent, hardworking individuals" who said they were voting Reform for this reason, not because they were Farage fans.

"The best way of getting those people back is by improving their lives across the UK," he said "and it is now ultimately clear that the only party that can beat the SNP is the Scottish Labour party."

Sarwar added there is "no point in denying" that issues such as Winter Fuel Allowance which he reiterates he would reinstate in Scotland.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, PA Media

Jamie Hepburn, the SNP's campaign co-ordinator, says it was a difficult night for the SNP and the party would reflect on the result ahead of the Holyrood election.

He tells BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that the party is in its 19th year of government and finished "well behind" Labour in last year's general election.

Hepburn adds the SNP has been going through a period of "stabilisation and recovery" under John Swinney since he succeeded Humza Yousaf as party leader in April last year.

He also says it was clear Reform had "gathered momentum" ahead of the by-election.

Asked if the pro-union vote suggested independence was not high on the agenda of voters, Hepburn says: "I think that is a fairly simplistic analysis of the campaign.

"Clearly a by-election campaign has a life of its own."

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

In an era of data-driven digital politics, this result underlines the value of old-fashioned boots on the ground campaigning.

Labour’s candidate Davy Russell was criticised for doing very few broadcast interviews, with the party accused of hiding him away.

That contributed to a national narrative of the SNP and Reform UK dominating the contest.

But leader Anas Sarwar has more or less lived in the constituency for the last six weeks, even missing the historic assisted dying debate at Holyrood.

And ultimately the hours of pounding pavements and knocking on doors has made the difference.

Labour got their supporters to come out on the day, and the SNP did not - despite also having thrown the kitchen sink at the seat.

John Swinney had talked about his party being back on the front foot. This result shows that they will have to wear out quite a bit more shoe leather ahead of next year’s Holyrood election.

Image source, PA Media

Fresh from last night's victory, Anas Sarwar has been speaking on Good Morning Scotland, where he took some time to reflect on the campaign.

He said that "three fundamental issues" were raised during the by-election; a clear rejection of both the SNP and Reform and that people want a "UK Labour government to move faster in improving their lives".

He said it is clear voters are "frustrated", and "that frustration requires action in the UK but a change here in Scotland".

He continued: "I think what the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse did yesterday was lead the way in fact to that change of government next year."

He added that it is his job over the next year to prove that Scottish Labour are the "credible alternative".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA Media

Deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tice has been speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme where he said the result was “truly remarkable”.

“We’ve come from nowhere to being in a three-way marginal,” he said.

“We were within 750 votes of winning that by-election, and just a few hundred votes of beating the SNP, so it’s an incredible result.”

In actual fact, Reform lost by 1,471 votes to Scottish Labour, with a difference of 869 votes between Reform and the SNP.

Responding to winning candidate Davy Russell’s comments that the “poison of Reform” is not welcome in Scotland, Tice said: “Well the truth is they’ve been trying this ridiculous language throughout the campaign and it’s gotten them absolutely nowhere.

“I think what this shows is that 11 months from the Holyrood elections the two main parties are a collation of the terrified who are wondering - is Reform going to win the Holyrood elections."

On Reform UK, Sir John Curtice says last night’s result shows the party are “making weather” north of the border, as they are south.

“Reform are damaging both of the two principals unionists parties in Scotland, in this instance not enough to save the SNP’s bacon but more broadly across Scotland there is still the likely prospects that the SNP will be the largest party in the next Scottish parliament,” he says.

Curtice said of the Scottish voters who backed the Conservatives last summer, one in four are now backing Reform, while more than one in six Labour voters in Scotland are now likely to vote Reform.

Here's a reminder of how the party's performed last night - and how this compares to results from the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021.

It was a very close result with Reform pushing the Conservatives into fourth place.

It's also worth noting that Labour’s vote share has declined slightly.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

Pollster Sir John Curtice has been speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says this by-election always looked "likely to be a close contest and that's what it's proven to be" and anyone following Scottish opinion polls won't have been overly surprised at the result.

But he says the outlook is not quite as optimistic as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would hope looking ahead to next year.

He says current polls, which proved to be quite accurate last night, show the SNP running at just over 30% of the vote nationwide, while Labour are sitting at around 20%.

"Such a result would not mean that Anas Sarwar would be Scotland’s next first minister," he says.

44.2% of the electorate voted in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse yesterday, meaning over 27,000 votes were cast - which is quite high for a by-election.

When voters in the constituency last voted in a Scottish election, back in 2021, turnout was around 60% - which is a 16% drop in the total number of votes cast.

The time before that, in the 2016 elections, turnout was 50.3% and in 2011 it was 45.3%.

Lower turnout can be expected when it's not a nationwide vote.

Labour confounds expectations with by-election victorypublished at 08:12 British Summer Time 6 June

08:12 BST 6 June

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

This is a good result for Scottish Labour.

Their position in the polls has slipped considerably since last year’s general election, and they’ve often found themselves on the defensive when it comes to controversial UK Labour policies, such as cuts to winter fuel payments.

Despite all that, they’ve taken the Holyrood seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse from the SNP.

This result will be a massive boost to party activists, politicians, and leader Anas Sarwar.

Even after the polls closed the SNP seemed quietly confident of victory. Leader John Swinney had claimed that only his party could beat Reform in this seat.

But Labour confounded expectations somewhat and their newest MSP, Davy Russell, is off to Holyrood.

• Read David's analysis of the result here.

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• In a surprise victory for Scottish Labour, Davy Russell has won the Scottish parliamentary by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
• With 8,559 votes, he defeated the SNP's Katy Louden - who came second (7,957 votes) - and Reform's Ross Lambie (7,088 votes)
• It was a grim night for the Conservatives, finishing in fourth with 1,621 votes - thousands behind Nigel Farage's upstart party. Tory MSP Miles Briggs says the party knew the by-election would be "difficult".
• Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Russell, saying "People in Scotland have once again voted for change"
• Pollsters say the real surprise of the night was the share of the Reform vote - and that the result was a surprise given the narrative through the campaign pointed to an SNP win

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, PA Media

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Miles Briggs says the party knew it would be a "difficult" by-election.

He adds factors such as the general election result last year and "protest voting" for Reform and Labour were factors in the Tories securing just 1,621 votes.

But Briggs tells BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We know what that challenge is and we have no doubt of the fight that we have to take forward into the election next year."

The Lothian MSP says the party will outline its vision for 2026 at its conference next weekend.

Briggs, who backed Kemi Badenoch in the Conservative leadership contest, was also asked about the party's problems at a UK level.

But despite recent speculation about her future he says she should be given time.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Pollster Mark Diffley says the result was a surprise given the narrative throughout the campaign.

He tells the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The mood music was that it was going towards the SNP."

But the expert says analysis of the data suggests it shouldn't have been an upset as the SNP vote plummeted by 17% compared to 2021.

He adds national polling indicates it is down by 15%.

Mr Diffley, of the Edinburgh-based Diffley Partnership, says: "The real surprise here was the size of the Reform vote at 26%.

"That mirrors what they have got at some local council by-elections this year and the national polling has them about 19% at the moment."

Diffley adds the Tory vote "absolutely collapsed" from 18% in 2021 to 6% last night.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Davy Russell and his team on a "fantastic victory", saying he looks forward to working with the new MSP.

Writing on X, external, he said: "People in Scotland have once again voted for change.

"Next year there is a chance to turbo charge delivery by putting Labour in power on both sides of the border."

The result of the vote in this South Lanarkshire constituency could have UK wide implications, says BBC Political correspondent, Iain Watson.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he says it sends a message to the prime minister that if you can “fight a good ground campaign” Labour can win seats on a small percentage of the vote, like they did in the general election last year.

He added that is might also indicate to Sir Keir Starmer that suggestions of a U-turn on cuts to the winter fuel allowance could help the party's popularity.

He says activists in Hamilton complained it was an issue that came up “negatively on the doorsteps”.