Summary

  • Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf says "the buck stops with me" after the SNP suffers a heavy defeat in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election

  • Labour's Michael Shanks secured a resounding victory over the SNP's Katy Loudon with a larger than expected swing of 20.4%

  • Yousaf acknowledges a "disappointing night" for the SNP but points to "reckless actions" of Margaret Ferrier

  • The vote was triggered by the removal of former Scottish National Party MP Ferrier after she broke Covid rules

  • Earlier Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer celebrated the party's landslide win in Rutherglen, telling campaigners they "blew the doors off"

  • "Scotland will lead the way in delivering a UK Labour government," Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said

  • Conservative support fell by 11% with candidate Thomas Kerr securing so few votes the party lost its deposit

Live Reporting

Edited by Nadia Ragozhina and Francesca Gillett

  1. Where is the count?

    Angus Cochrane
    BBC Scotland News

    counting begins

    The first votes are now being counted in the Banqueting Hall at South Lanarkshire’s offices in Hamilton.

    A hush had descended as the local authority’s “information officer” delivered the counting procedures before the count officially begins.

    Party politicians and officials are keeping up appearances, even if some suspect it is unlikely to be their night.

    Council officials are also having to cope with a considerably bigger media presence than usual – with interest from across the UK in what is considered a bellwether of voting intentions ahead of the next general election.

  2. Who has done the best job of beating the miserable weather?

    Philip Sim
    BBC Scotland political correspondent

    First Minister Humza Yousaf and SNP candidate Katy Loudon braved stormy weather as the tried to secure late votesGetty Images

    First Minister Humza Yousaf and SNP candidate Katy Loudon braved stormy weather as the tried to secure late votes

    It will be interesting to see how turnout affects this contest, after a miserable day of weather across the region.

    The effect of weather is often overstated, but voters are always less engaged with by-elections than they are with a general election amid a national campaign.

    While Rutherglen and Hamilton West had a 66.5% turnout in 2019, nobody is expecting that kind of level today.

    In the last Scottish by-election, in Airdrie and Shotts in 2021, only 34% of the electorate turned out. And that was in May, the week after a Holyrood contest.

    The question is whose vote is hit by that – effectively, which party has done the best job on the day of turning out their core support.

  3. Labour says it is 'once more a serious force' in Scotland

    Labour candidate Michael Shanks and the party's Scottish deputy leader Jackie Baillie at a polling station earlierGetty Images

    As the polls closed, Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie said her party was "once more a serious force in Scottish politics".

    She added that the party and its candidate Michael Shanks had run an energetic campaign focused on the priorities of the people.

    Pat McFadden MP, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West "deserved better than two governments running from their own record of failure, riven with infighting".

  4. Reflections on the road to the ballot box

    Andrew Kerr
    Scottish political correspondent

    The people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have waited a long time for this poll.

    The chain of events that brought us here began in September 2020 when the then-SNP MP Margaret Ferrier broke Covid rules.

    That news broke, there was a court case, MPs announced their inquiry, they delivered their punishment and then there was Ms Ferrier's failed appeal.

    One party campaigner said that when the recall petition to unseat Ms Ferrier was successful, people in the constituency asked if it was now finally time for the by-election?

    It was indeed - in a constituency that's very handy for Scotland's journalists being so near Glasgow.

    Residents might be pleased to see the back of reporters now.

    Exactly three years ago today, I was filming vox pops there and one woman described Ms Ferrier's actions: "Shocking, an absolute disgrace. She should be gie'd her jotters."

    An alternative way of saying she should be handed her P45.

    The people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West will have now selected a new representative - a fresh contract between people and politician.

  5. Analysis

    Nothing is certain, but Labour appear much more confident

    Nick Eardley
    Political correspondent

    It’s only a few hours until we know exactly what the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have decided today. You can never be completely certain at this time of night what’s going to happen.

    But I’ve had chats with several people from different parties tonight and none seem to think the SNP will hold the seat.

    Senior Labour figures are confident. They won’t say how much they think they’ll win by, but they think they are going to win. If they don’t, something will have gone seriously wrong for the party.

    Sources in the SNP are conceding they don’t think they’ll win. They blame a mixture of factors. It seems turnout among their support has been poor and the terrible weather hasn’t helped.

    If Labour win, a key question will be how much by. In the past few weeks, senior figures in the party have been eyeing up a comfortable majority which could indicate they are on course to win 15 to 20 seats in Scotland.

  6. The polls have closed
    Breaking

    The polls have now closed in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.

  7. Who is standing in this by-election?

    Polling StationGetty Images

    The confirmed list of candidates standing in the by-election were (in alphabetical order):

    • Gloria Adebo (Scottish Liberal Democrats)
    • Bill Bonnar (Scottish Socialist Party)
    • Garry Cooke (Independent)
    • Andrew Daly (Independent)
    • Cameron Eadie (Scottish Greens)
    • Prince Ankit Love, Emperor of India
    • Niall Fraser (Scottish Family Party)
    • Ewan Hoyle (Volt UK)
    • Thomas Kerr (Scottish Conservatives)
    • Katy Loudon (SNP)
    • Chris Sermanni (Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
    • Michael Shanks (Scottish Labour)
    • David Stark (Reform UK)
    • Colette Walker (Independence for Scotland Party)

    Read more here.

  8. How did we get here?

    Margaret Ferrier was elected MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West in 2019 having previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017UK Parliament

    Margaret Ferrier was elected MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West in 2019 having previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017

    This by-election is the first of its kind in Scotland.

    It was triggered after almost 12,000 constituents signed a recall petition – a mechanism introduced in the wake of the Westminster expenses scandal so MPs can be removed – against sitting MP Margaret Ferrier.

    The former SNP MP had been convicted of breaching Covid regulations and was given 270 hours of community service.

    Ferrier travelled to London and spoke in the Commons while awaiting the result of a Covid test in September 2020.

    But after receiving her positive result via text she got a train home to Glasgow, despite rules at the time stating she should have self-isolated for two weeks.

    The former sales manager was removed from the SNP Westminster group and was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days, triggering the recall process.

    Read more here.

  9. Welcome

    Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the crucial Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.

    The polls are just about to close and now all eyes are focused on the result, which we expect about 1pm.

    You can watch BBC One Scotland's programme by clicking on the play icon at the top of this page.

    We'll bring you all the reaction and analysis throughout the night.