The Scottish Conservatives have more than doubled their vote in the Leaderdale & Melrose by-election, bucking the national trend in the county council elections.
Candidate Rachael Hamilton narrowly missed out on winning the Borders Council seat despite topping the ballot on the number of first preferences with 27% of the vote.
Transfers eventually led to her losing at the last stage to Iain Gillespie of the Borders Party.
The Scottish Conservatives made the largest gains of any party since last year’s council elections, achieving more than a 15% increase in their share of the first preferences.
Scottish Conservative MSP John Lamont said:
“There can be no doubt that this is a great result for the Scottish Conservatives.
“We’ve made huge strides in this election despite results elsewhere in the UK going against us and to increase our share of first preferences by more than 15% is hugely encouraging.
“The relatively poor performance of UKIP also shows that they continue to struggle to hold sway in Scottish politics.
“It is disappointing that despite being most voters’ first choice that this hasn’t resulted in Rachael being elected.
“The voting system in this instance has cost us, but we will take a lot of comfort in the fact that so many local residents placed their trust in us.”
Rachael Hamilton, Scottish Conservative candidate for Leaderdale & Melrose, said:
“While I am obviously delighted to have come so close to getting elected, the system in this instance has worked against me.
“To receive the highest number of first preference votes sends a positive message about the amount of Conservative support in Leaderdale & Melrose.
“It is a shame that the voting system has cost us, and that despite being most people’s preferred candidate, transfers have meant that we have missed out.
“It does show however that despite results elsewhere in the UK, the Conservatives are making gains here in the Borders.”