Labour has won the Rutherglen and West Hamilton by-election with a big victory over the SNP.
In the end, the party’s candidate Michael Shanks won 17,845 votes, out of a total of 30,531 cast and the margin of a 20 per cent victory was twice what pundits had predicted.
Out of an electorate of 82,104, some 37.19 per cent turned out to cast a vote.
The Rutherglen and West Hamilton contest was triggered by the ousting of former SNP Margaret Ferrier, who was found to have broken Covid rules when she travelled between Glasgow and London after testing positive for the virus during lockdown in 2020.
Ms Ferrier was ejected from the seat following Scotland’s first-ever recall petition — a mechanism that allows voters to remove an MP by signing a petition.
With his party commanding a large lead in national polling, Labour’s candidate Michael Shanks was expected to come out on top against the SNP’s Katy London and the Conservative Party hopeful Thomas Kerr.
The SNP was always likely to be heavily punished for the sins of Ms Ferrier, whose breach of Covid rules was a source of anger and frustration among locals who were unable to see or visit their loved ones during lockdown.