SNP’s Mhairi Hunter wins Southside Central by-election. Read her answers to your pre-election questions here
Former councillor, Mhairi Hunter, regained an SNP seat in the Southside Central ward after votes were cast yesterday, Greater Govanhill got an exclusive comment from her on the win. Read her answers to your pre-election questions below.
Photo of Mhairi Hunter by Alexander Belic
By Devon McCole
From 7am to 10pm yesterday Southsiders living in the Southside Central ward made their way to local polling stations to cast their vote in a snap by-election, triggered by the death of Labour councillor James Scanlon in December.
Candidates vying for James Scanlon’s seat have been campaigning for the past month, to convince constituents to vote for them.
Today, votes have been counted and the results are in. Mhairi Hunter has won, taking the lead by 1126 votes (30.0%), beating Labour’s Samina Rashid (1027 votes, 27.4%) by just 99 votes. The turnout was just 18.7%.
Following the count of first preference votes the results are as follows:
Mhairi Hunter – Scottish National Party – 1126 (30.0%)
Samina Rashid – Scottish Labour Party – 1026 (27.4%)
Laura Vroomen – Scottish Greens – 805 (21.5%)
Olivia Murphy – Scottish Socialist Party – 271 (7.2%)
Danny Raja – Reform UK – 222 (5.9%)
Nicholas Allan Budgen – Liberal Democrats – 155 (4.1%)
Kyle Park – Conservative & Unionist Party – 102 (2.7%)
Travis Power – UKIP – 41 (1.1%)
After results were finalised Mhairi Hunter (who previously held a Southside Central seat from 2012 - 2022) told Greater Govanhill she is “delighted to be re-elected for this ward and very grateful to voters for placing their trust in me.” adding “This is the best ward in the city in my view and I can't wait to get to work.”
BlueSky user, New-Cleckit Dominie, reacted to the results: “The three right / far-right parties put together not getting half as many votes as the Greens in third place. Well done, Southside.”
When asked about this, Mhairi Hunter said “I saw no evidence of them campaigning which doesn't surprise me as I think folk in this ward would pretty quickly tell them where to go!”
The SNP’s Donna McGillalso gained a seat in the North East ward, where a by-election was also triggered following Labour councillor Mary McNab’s disqualification late last year.
In the end, the SNP snatched-up two Labour seats today, which went from red to yellow.
The four Southside Central councillors are now: Alexander Belic (SNP), Elaine Gallagher (Scottish Greens), Mhairi Hunter (SNP), Dr Soryia Siddique (Labour).
In the run up to the by-election, we asked you what questions you want to put to candidates, these are the answers from your new councillor
How will you protect essential services from further cuts and fight for Govanhill to ensure it benefits from the increase in council tax?
The prospect of further spending reductions is very concerning. After more than a decade of austerity, I think we all hoped a new UK government would signal a change of direction, but, if anything, the financial prospects seem even worse under Labour, which is quite extraordinary when you think about it. The Scottish Government has already made different choices on tax to the rest of the UK to protect essential services, but it will be very challenging for them if the UK government reduces public spending further.
Obviously, as an SNP candidate, I would argue that an independent Scotland would be able to manage our public services more effectively and in a more holistic way. We would also have a much more realistic prospect of growing our economy and increasing living standards and our tax base by rejoining the EU single market and ditching the UK government’s ideological opposition to migration.
Many Govanhill residents have told us they want more social housing. What is your stance on this, and how will you approach this issue if you are elected?
The main constraint on creating new social housing in Govanhill is the availability of land. If you look at the register of vacant and derelict land in Glasgow, there is no vacant land left in Govanhill on which to build.
New build is not the only way of increasing the amount of social housing availability, though. The Acquisition and Repair programme has brought over 350 privately owned properties in Govanhill into social ownership, so that is another approach. The SNP-led Council has also invested additional funding for the Empty Homes team to bring long-term empty properties back into use.
Rogue landlords are a real problem in this area. What action will you take to address this issue to improve housing standards in the private renting sector?
Over 30 rogue landlords in Govanhill have already been removed from the Landlord Register, so there is a system in place to tackle this, and I would probably encourage more information sharing to ensure that reports of rogue landlords are acted upon. Being removed from the Landlord Register is the ultimate penalty, but I do appreciate that sometimes tenants might be apprehensive about reporting in case they lose their tenancy, so we need to provide the right support for them.
Overflowing bins and fly-tipping are major concerns. How will you tackle waste management and pest control in the area?
I’m glad that the recent Council Budget increased investment in cleansing staff and pest control, and also on commercial waste enforcement officers. A significant amount of illegal waste disposal does not come from residents but from businesses and landlords emptying properties in between tenancies, so I want to see a sharp focus on that. The Council is also planning to roll out the bin hub model that has been piloted in Pollokshields, and that would certainly be better than the Taylor bins that are currently in place in some streets.
Do you support the creation of a publicly-owned bus company for Greater Glasgow and a unified, oyster-card style payment system for public transport?
Yes, I would support a publicly-owned company, but I think in today’s climate, finance is a challenge. However, I believe there is some work going on around this, and once the cost is known, we would be able to look at the next steps. Regarding an oyster-card-style payment, there is the SPT Zone Card option, but that is probably less useful for casual journeys. Again, I think there are discussions around this, and I would certainly press for progress.
Given the unfit state of many of the areas play parks, what will you do to ensure parks are better maintained?
The recent Budget allocated funding for over 40 new parks staff and an additional £3 million targeted at smaller neighbourhood parks and green spaces, so I hope people will see an improvement.
In what ways will you ensure the rights of LGBTQ+ communities? In particular, do you support trans rights? And if so, what will you do to protect them amidst growing transphobia?
I support the LGBTQ+ community, and I support trans rights. I have found the transphobic nature of much of the debate around trans rights to be very worrying. Of course, people have the right to raise concerns about any policy or piece of legislation, but they should not be transphobic about doing so, and I have challenged transphobia and will continue to do so. As a councillor, I would be happy to work with the LGBTQ+ community to address any issues they raise.
What will you do to ensure migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Glasgow are welcomed into the city and given support to settle and integrate?
The Council provides some services for refugees and asylum seekers and works with third-sector bodies providing support in communities. I’d be happy to do anything I could to assist with this. However, the provision of accommodation and support for asylum seekers sits with the Home Office, and they commission providers from the private sector. This is the wrong way of doing it and has caused some problems. The Council should provide all of these services, as it is better placed to do so in a holistic way.
How will you work with local police and the community to address crime and safety concerns effectively?
I think the community policing approach is most effective. When I was a councillor previously, I was involved in arranging meetings for residents with the local police where there were particular concerns, and I would continue that approach.
What plans do you have to support local businesses? How will you create more job opportunities in the area?
I would support a business association for the area and work with employers seeking to set up in the area. The Council has a particular focus on promoting inclusive economic growth, and it is vital that we work with people furthest away from the job market to help them. There is a lot of really good work from the third sector on this as well, and I would continue to support it.