LABOUR have failed to take their top target seat of Rutherglen with the SNP's Clare Haughey regaining the constituency.
Party veteran James Kelly is now highly unlikely to return to Holyrood as he is only fifth placed on the party's regional list.
The move is the latest blow for Anas Sarwar's party which had hoping to take the seat following charges brought against the former SNP MP for the area Margaret Ferrier.
The SNP's Clare Haughey retained the Rutherglen seat. She is pictured above campaigning in the constituency with Nicola Sturgeon
But instead Haughey, the mental health minister in the Scottish Government, retained the seat with Kelly coming in second.
Haughey received 20,246 votes with Kelly netting 15,083 - giving the SNP a majority of 5,166. The turnout was 63%.
READ MORE: Scottish election: SNP takes East Lothian from Labour
Ferrier, who now sits as an independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, was arrested and charged with culpable and reckless conduct for allegedly breaking coronavirus regulations.
She admitted travelling by train between London and Glasgow in September after a positive test for the virus.
The MP had the SNP whip suspended after she took part in Commons debates and travelling to London last year, despite waiting on a COVID-19 test result.
After being informed she had tested positive for the virus, Ferrier travelled home by train, later admitting she had visited a number of businesses in her constituency on the same day she took the test.
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