2026 Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election
2026 United Kingdom parliamentary by-election
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A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry was held on 18 June 2026, triggered by the resignation of incumbent Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Stephen Gethins following his election to the Scottish Parliament; the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 prohibits individuals from serving simultaneously as an MP and an MSP. It was won by SNP candidate Lara Bird, who held the seat for the party.
31.4% (
26.5 pp)18 June 2026
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Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 75,985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 23,870 31.4% ( 26.5 pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The vote was one of three Westminster by-elections taking place on the same day; the others being in Aberdeen South and in Makerfield.
Background
As per the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, individuals are banned from holding both a seat in the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons, and thus Gethins resigned his Westminster seat on 14 May 2026.[1][2][3][4] The consequential by-election took place on 18 June 2026,[5] the same day as Westminster parliamentary by-elections in Aberdeen South and Makerfield.
Arbroath and Broughty Ferry was created by the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies.[6] It contains some coastal parts of Angus as well as eastern suburbs of Dundee City.[7]
The constituency's inhabitants are 97% ethnically White, with 56% categorised as social grades A, B and C1. The average household income is £30,186, below the averages for Great Britain as a whole and for Scotland, while the home-ownership rate is 70%, higher than both the Scotland and Great Britain averages. In the 2016 referendum, 58% of those who voted in the constituency favoured remaining in the European Union.[8]
Gethins was elected MP for North East Fife in 2015 and lost the seat in 2019.[9] In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, he was elected in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry; it was one of only nine seats to elect an SNP candidate.[10] Gethins won with a narrow majority of 859 votes over the Labour candidate.[11]
Candidates
On 16 May, two SNP members launched their campaigns to be selected as the party's candidate for the by-election: Lara Bird (a PhD student at King's College London) and Douglas Bruce.[12] Bird was announced as the party's candidate four days later.[13][14]
Scottish Labour selected Heather Doran, currently the only Labour councillor on the Angus Council and the party's candidate at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election for Angus South.[15]
Jack Cruickshanks, a councillor on the Angus Council, was the Conservative candidate.[15]
Bill Reid was announced as Reform UK's candidate on 22 May.[16] He had previously been their candidate in Angus South at the 2026 Holyrood election.[17]
The Scottish Liberal Democrats selected Tanvir Ahmad, the party's candidate at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election for Dundee City East.[15]
Result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Lara Bird | 9,802 | 41.1 | +5.8 | |
| Conservative | Jack Cruickshanks | 4,524 | 19.4 | +3.9 | |
| Reform | Bill Reid | 4,341 | 18.2 | +9.6 | |
| Labour | Heather Doran | 3,651 | 15.3 | −18.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Tanvir Ahmad | 1,452 | 6.1 | +1.0 | |
| Rejected ballots | 57 | ||||
| Majority | 5,278 | 21.7 | +19.8 | ||
| Turnout | 23,870 | 31.4 | −26.5 | ||
| Registered electors | 75,985 | ||||
| SNP hold | Swing | +1.0 | |||
Previous result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Stephen Gethins | 15,581 | 35.3 | −15.6 | |
| Labour | Cheryl-Ann Cruickshank | 14,722 | 33.4 | +23.2 | |
| Conservative | Richard Brooks | 6,841 | 15.5 | −14.8 | |
| Reform | Gwen Wood | 3,800 | 8.6 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | David Evans | 2,249 | 5.1 | −2.9 | |
| Alba | Ghazi Khan | 693 | 1.6 | N/A | |
| Sovereignty | Moira Brown | 231 | 0.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 859 | 1.9 | |||
| Turnout | 44,278 | 57.9 | |||
| SNP hold | Swing | -19.4 | |||