Highlands and Islands Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has said that the increasing Conservative vote recorded in the Fort William and Ardnamurchan Ward council by-election bodes well for his party in next year’s Highland Council elections.
Scottish Conservative candidate Ruraidh Stewart almost doubled the party’s share of the vote achieved by his predecessor, the late Councillor Ian Ramon, which was itself a historic high for the Conservatives in the area.
“This is the eighth successive Highland Council by-election result, beginning in 2018, when the Conservative share of the vote has increased, often substantially. This progress is extremely encouraging and bodes well for the full council elections next May, when we are working to significantly increase the number of Conservative councillors representing communities across the Highlands. This result, coming on top of our best-ever results in the Scottish Parliament elections earlier this year, confirms that the Scottish Conservatives are now the only credible challengers to the SNP.”