Labour MP Ian Murray has thrown his support behind Scottish Labour candidate Ruth Elliott ahead of Thursday’s Southside/Newington council by-election, saying she would bring “new energy and enthusiasm” to Edinburgh City Council.
Residents in Southside/Newington will go to the polls on Thursday 3 September to elect a new councillor following the resignation of former SNP councillor Simita Kumar, who stepped down after being elected as an MSP. A second by-election is also taking place in Portobello/Craigmillar on the same day.
Writing on Facebook, Murray said:
“On Thursday, residents of Southside Newington have the opportunity to elect a new councillor in a council by-election.”
“Scottish Labour’s candidate, Ruth Elliott, will be a fantastic representative for the ward.”
“She will bring new energy and enthusiasm to the council and will get things done for our communities.”
Elliott is one of 13 candidates contesting the Southside/Newington vacancy. Labour is hoping to strengthen its position on the council, where the party currently has 11 councillors.
The ward has traditionally been highly competitive. At the 2022 local elections it returned one councillor each from Labour, the SNP, the Scottish Greens and the Liberal Democrats, with Labour leading the first-preference vote on 24.1%.
Labour has presented Elliott as an experienced local campaigner who would add a younger voice to the City Chambers. She has lived in the ward for four years after moving to Edinburgh to study politics, and previously served as vice-president community at Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
Edinburgh Labour says she has previously campaigned on housing issues, including efforts to strengthen regulation around purpose-built student accommodation, and argues that her election would bring another hardworking Labour representative into the council administration.
The contest is being closely watched as a test of political momentum in the Scottish capital, with Labour, the SNP and Greens all seeking to make gains ahead of next year’s full council elections.
Murray’s intervention underlines Labour’s determination to win the seat and build on its existing support in the ward.
With polling stations open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday, voters will use Scotland’s Single Transferable Vote system, ranking candidates in order of preference.
For Labour, the message ahead of polling day is focused firmly on local representation: electing a councillor who will campaign on residents’ priorities and, as Murray put it, “get things done for our communities”.
