THE Scottish Tories have picked up a seat on Angus Council after a by-election was held on Thursday.
It was held following the resignation of the council’s former leader David Fairweather, who had served as an independent.
His departure meant that a by-election was triggered in the Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim ward.
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In a post on Twitter/X, Angus Council confirmed the by-election had been won by Scottish Tory candidate Jack Cruickshanks, who secured around 42% of first-preference votes, up on their previous 2022 figure of 31.4%.
A statement said: “The results of the by-election for the ward of Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim are announced today Friday, April 26 2024 and Mr Jack Cruickshanks, Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate, is duly elected as councillor.”
The current administration is made up of 13 SNP councillors and two independents, although the Conservative victory in this by-election means it now has eight councillors in total.
Angus Council confirmed that there was a total of 4010 votes cast on a turnout of 29.4% with the first-preference results as follows:
- Jack Cruickshanks (Scottish Conservatives) – 1682 votes (42%)
- Kathleen Wolf (SNP) – 1175 votes (29%)
- Mark Hilton (Scottish Labour) – 644 votes (16%)
- Sandra O’Shea (Scottish LibDems) - 333 (8%)
- Mark Findlay (Scottish Green Party) – 176 votes (4%)
Cruickshanks was elected at stage five of the count.
Following his win, the 24-year-old said: "I've got a very clear set of priorities. Number one, I would like to improve transparency and accountability within the council when it comes to potholes.
"So that means creating a public database where residents of Angus can get live updates on potholes.
"Secondly, I would like to improve park lighting. I'm very passionate about this and I'm planning to start a petition within weeks to get park lighting on the West Common.
"This will benefit football fans, dog walkers and evening strollers."
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross (above) was among those to offer his congratulations to the new councillor, writing on Twitter/X: “Massive congratulations to Jack Cruickshanks and @AngusCons for winning the Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim by-election!
“Our vote up, SNP down. Across Scotland, the @ScotTories can beat the SNP, end their independence obsession, and get the focus onto your priorities.”
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