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PARTY WIN 8 OUT OF LAST 17 LOCAL BY-ELECTIONS
Cllr Helen Coffey became the SNP's latest elected representative this evening (Thursday) following her victory in the Altonhill, Hillhead and Longpark By-Election in Kilmarnock.
The by-election followed the recent death of local SNP Councillor Danny Coffey. As Ayrshire's longest serving Nationalist Councillor (20 consecutive years), Danny Coffey served Kilmarnock & Loudoun well on Strathclyde Regional Council, Kilmarnock & Loudoun District Council (where he served as Provost from 1992 to 1996) and on East Ayrshire Council since 1995.
Tonight's result saw the SNP increase its majority in the ward, and increase its share of the vote by 4 percent since 2003 to 59 percent of the total votes cast, with a swing away to the SNP from the Labour Party of 5.5 percent.
Following the announcement of the result, SNP Business Convener Bruce Crawford MSP said:
"This is a tremendous victory by the SNP, but one tinged with sadness following the untimely death of our colleague and friend, Danny Coffey. Danny served this community proudly for twenty years, and will be missed by us all.
"Helen will make an excellent Councillor, who will fight hard for the people of the area. I look forward to working with her and our growing number of SNP representatives across the country to fight and win the 2007 election."
Cllr Helen Coffey added:
"I'd like to thank all those voters who have placed their trust in me today.
"I promise them that I will continue to campaign for the people of this area, and while I cannot replace Danny, I hope to follow in his footsteps on behalf of local people here in Kilmarnock."
FULL RESULT
PARTY VOTE PERCENT
SNP 715 59
Labour 296 24
SSP 23 2
Tory 178 15
MAJORITY 419
2003 Result
SNP 733 54.6
Labour 419 31.2
Tory 116 8.6
SSP 74 5.4
MAJORITY 314
Author : SNP Press Office
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