In a tense victory over the SNP, the Conservative Party triumphed in Stirling as the results were announced in the early hours of this morning.
Stephen Kerr won the seat with a majority of just 148 votes.
Just two years ago in the 2015 election, the SNP’s Steven Paterson won the seat with a majority of 10,480.
Across the country, the SNP suffered defeats from the Conservatives and Labour as many high profile seats were lost.
Speaking to Brig, Stephen Kerr said he was “delighted” with the victory as the tight majority saw the candidates have to sit through a “dramatic” recount, delaying the result until 4am.
He said: “It was an incredible night of drama. It was clear from very early on that Steven Paterson and I were matching each other vote for vote almost.
“None of us knew exactly what the final numbers were going to look like and when the returning officer told us the first result it was amazing we had both recieved over 18,000 votes and I was barely in front of him.
“Quite understandably, the SNP candidate and agent wanted to do a recount and the returning officer did this bundle check where they check all the votes were in the right bundles and that was its own drama, so it was very tense for him and for me.
“Then finally, we got to a point where, having done that check, everyone accepted that result and I was elected. It was very dramatic and very tense and I think we were both under a lot of pressure.”
Stephen’s victory in the constitunecy is a first for the Conservatives since 1992 and it had admittedly been a long journey to win back Stirling over the 25 years.
Locally in Stirling, the Conservatives have had an arguably good year as they doubled their seats in the council elections back in May.
Relaying what he said in his speech at the count, Stephen emphasised the importance of representing his constituents.
He explained: “[The focus] is to serve the people of Stirling to the best of my ability – all of the people of Stirling, not just those who voted for me or those who agree with me.
“My number one priority as the MP will be to do everything I can to support the economy locally, because I believe that good jobs are the key to many of the issues that we face in this area.
But Stephen told Brig about the importance of collaborating with his SNP, Labour and Liberal Democrats counterparts to create a voice for Scotland.
He said: “At the end of the day it’s what’s best for Stirling, what’s best for Scotland and the UK.
“I believe very strongly in the principle of collaboration and it doesn’t matter to me which party or label someone wears.
“If you’ve been elected by the people of this country to do their business then I would talk to anybody and work with anybody as long as we can make a positive difference to the lives of the people who live here in whatever sphere of activity that might be in, whether its social or economic I think that’s why I wanted to be an member of parliament.”
[…] One went to Kerr, on his third try, by 148 votes out of 47,000. Two years ago, he lost by more than 10,000 votes. This time, an instant recount was not complete until 4 a.m. […]
[…] One went to Kerr, on his third try, by 148 votes out of 47,000. Two years ago, he lost by more than 10,000 votes. This time, an instant recount was not complete until 4 a.m. […]
[…] One went to Kerr, on his third try, by 148 votes out of 47,000. Two years ago, he lost by more than 10,000 votes. This time, an instant recount was not complete until 4 a.m. […]
[…] One went to Kerr, on his third try, by 148 votes out of 47,000. Two years ago, he lost by more than 10,000 votes. This time, an instant recount was not complete until 4 a.m. […]