 | 'In a poll where the turnout was almost half that of the last European election, the SNP candidate, Ian Hudghton, succeeded in increasing the party's majority, taking almost as many votes as all five other parties combined.' David Scott and Frank Urquhart in the Scotsman, 28 th November 1998. |  |
"We will be learning lessons from the campaign," a senior Scottish Labour official conceded last night after the party suffered its biggest setback in Scotland since the general election 18 months ago.
Labour's share of the vote in the North East of Scotland European by-election fell by nearly 10 per cent while the Nationalists' share increased by more than 5 per cent to keep the seat.
Labour's loss of second place to the Tories was a devastating psychological blow for the party just months before the start of the campaign for the Scottish parliament elections next May. The result will be seen as a warning shot to Labour leaders in Scotland. For the Tories, who have been showing no sign of recovery in the opinion polls, the outcome of the by-election was a huge boost to morale.
Although only just over 20 per cent of the electorate voted, the Tories' showing was enough to convince senior Conservative officials that a Tory revival had begun.
David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Tories, said: "I think this result demonstrates that the Scottish Tories are back in business.
"It follows on good results achieved in local government by-elections over the past year and demonstrates that, when real votes are cast in real elections, the party is pulling significantly ahead of opinion poll ratings. This gives us heart for the Scottish parliament campaign next year."
The SNP's victory was hailed by its leader, Alex Salmond, as "sensational". He declared that the magnitude of the SNP's success in retaining the seat marked the "total demoralisation of Labour Party support in Scotland".
He said: "Tony Blair said the tide had turned when he was in Scotland last week. The tide has turned against the Labour Party of Scotland and this result has washed them off the beach of Scottish politics.
"This is the most convincing evidence yet that the Labour campaign against the SNP has misfired abysmally and that Scotland's party is moving from strength to strength."
Helen Liddell, the deputy Scottish Secretary, said: "This is clearly a disappointing result, but this was always going to be a difficult by-election for Labour."
The by-election was caused by the death of Dr Allan Macartney, the respected deputy leader of the SNP, in what is natural campaigning territory for the party.
Mrs Liddell said: "The poll is far too low to tell us anything significant. The fact is that people are very supportive of the Government's record. They're in no mood to protest and that obviously makes it difficult to motivate people to vote."
The Liberal Democrats, in fourth place, took comfort from an increase in their share of the vote. In a poll where the turnout was almost half that of the last European election, the SNP candidate, Ian Hudghton, succeeded in increasing the party's majority, taking almost as many votes as all five other parties combined.
The SNP gained a share of the vote which, at a general election, would see the Nationalists virtually sweeping the boards in the north-east, taking all three Aberdeen seats and the two Dundee constituencies from Labour.
Mr Hudghton, the leader of Angus Council, polled 57,445 votes, a 48 per cent share of the vote and a majority of 33,701 over the other parties. The late Dr Macartney's majority at the last election, with a turnout of 38 per cent compared with yesterday's 20.5 per cent turnout, was 31,227.
Kathleen Walker Shaw, the Labour candidate, was ashen-faced as the results were declared at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. She refused to comment on whether she regarded the result as a personal humiliation after her flawed campaign or a disaster for Labour north of the Border.
She said: "I put the result down to a very low turnout. I think it would be dangerous for any party to draw conclusions from this result."
Struan Stevenson, the Conservative candidate, declared from the platform: "The Scottish Tories are on the way back. Labour has been humiliated in north-east Scotland.
"The tide has turned and although we have still a lot of our votes to consolidate and a lot of support to win back, people up here in the north-east during this campaign have begun to recognise that we are a completely reformed party with new Scottish policies, made in Scotland, and dynamic new ideas."
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