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The 2019 Shetland by-election was held on 29 August 2019 to elect a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the constituency of Shetland.^[1] It was held following the resignation of Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott upon taking a new role at Scottish Rugby.^[2]^[3] The Liberal Democrats held the seat, with Beatrice Wishart being elected for the party.^[4]

Candidates

The Liberal Democrats' Beatrice Wishart was deputy convener of the Shetland Islands Council.^[5]^[6] The Scottish National Party fielded Shetland-born Tom Wills, an engineer with an offshore renewables company.^[5] Two Shetland Islands Council members, Ian Scott and Ryan Thomson, ran as independent candidates.^[7] A former Shetland Islands Council member, Michael Stout, also ran as an independent candidate.^[8]

Campaign

The campaign was hard-fought; the SNP spent £100,000 on the by-election - more money than the party spent during the entire EU referendum - and there was a swing of over 14% to their candidate.^[9]

Result

2019 Shetland by-election^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Beatrice Wishart	5,659	47.86	−19.52
	SNP	Tom Wills	3,822	32.32	+9.27
	Independent	Ryan Thomson	1,286	10.88	New
	Conservative	Brydon Goodlad	425	3.59	−0.07
	Scottish Green	Debra Nicolson	189	1.60	New
	Labour	Johan Adamson	152	1.29	−4.61
	Independent	Michael Stout	134	1.13	New
	Independent	Ian Scott	66	0.56	New
	UKIP	Stuart Martin	60	0.51	New
	Independent	Peter Tait	31	0.26	New
Majority			1,837	15.54	−28.76
Turnout			11,824	66.39	+4.31
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−14.40

Previous result

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Shetland^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tavish Scott	7,440	67.4	+19.9
	SNP	Danus Skene	2,545	23.1	+11.0
	Labour	Robina Barton	651	5.9	−0.7
	Conservative	Cameron Smith	405	3.7	+0.2
Majority			4,895	44.3	+27.1
Turnout			11,041
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

^ "New MSP vote to be held in late August". The Shetland Times. 2 July 2019.
^ Davidson, Jenni (26 June 2019). "Shetland MSP Tavish Scott to stand down from Scottish Parliament". Holyrood Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ "Former Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott to quit Holyrood". BBC News. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ "Lib Dems hold off SNP to win Shetland by-election". BBC News. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b Woods, Emily (19 July 2019). "SNP announces Shetland by-election candidate". Holyrood Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ "SIC deputy convener Wishart will fight seat for Liberal Democrats". The Shetland Times. 14 July 2019.
^ "Ukip names candidate for Holyrood by-election". The Shetland Times. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ Matter, Hans J (29 July 2019). "Former Councillor Stands on Transport Ticket". Shetland News. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ "SNP spent more on Shetland byelection than EU referendum". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
^ Speare-Cole, Rebecca (30 August 2019). "Shetland by-election results: Lib Dems see off SNP challenge to retain seat". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ "Shetland Islands". BBC News. 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2021.

v t e By-elections to the Scottish Parliament
1st	2000: Ayr Glasgow Anniesland 2001: Strathkelvin and Bearsden Banff and Buchan
2nd	2005: Glasgow Cathcart 2006: Moray
3rd	None
4th	2013: Aberdeen Donside Dunfermline 2014: Cowdenbeath
5th	2017: Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire 2019: Shetland
Regional member changes