Inverclyde - Labour hold on in their heartland

You'll notice that although I wrote a lot about Inverclyde, and the excellent Liberal Democrat candidate Sophie Bridger, I never made any wild predictions about what would happen. That's because I had a feeling that it would be pretty much as it was.

The result in full was:

Iain McKenzie          Labour      15118
Anne McLaughlin      SNP           9280
David Wilson            Cons           2784
Sophie Bridger          Lib Dem       647
Mitch Sorbie             UKIP           288

Logic dictated that if the SNP couldn't win this seat on a night like they had in May, it was destined to stay as a Labour fiefdom. SNP candidate Anne McLaughlin would have had my second preference in an AV election - because of her big heart and potential to be a complete pain in the arse to the UK Border Agency rather than her party's policies.

Given the result we had in May, it would have been foolhardy and reckless to throw the kitchen sink at this by-election. Our performance has been consistent with other Westminster by-election results in central and western Scotland in the last few years. What we did do, though, is introduce the world to an excellent candidate who already outshines many of the MPs who currently sit at Westminster.

It would be churlish not to congratulate Iain McKenzie. He's been given a huge privilege and I hope he enjoys the experience of representing Inverclyde's people at Westminster.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie struck the right tone with his remarks:

“Sophie Bridger was an excellent and dedicated candidate. She worked extremely hard and it was a pleasure to campaign with her. I am determined that we will get better results in the months and years to come.

"We are listening to what the voters are saying and we will feed this into our plans for the party’s future and development in Scotland.
"I believe that we will restore Scotland's confidence in the Liberal Democrats and continue to be a strong liberal voice, holding the Scottish Government to account.”