Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
November 7, 2008
LABOUR has maintained the balance of power in Edinburgh Council by retaining the Forth ward seat left vacant by the sudden death of councillor Elizabeth Maginnis.
The party's 34-year-old candidate Cammy Day held the council seat for Labour with a majority of 172 votes over the SNP's second place candidate George Gordon.
The SNP had hoped to snatch the seat away from Labour to give the ruling SNP / Lib Dem coalition a clear majority for the first time in the chamber, but it was not to be. It means that the coalition will have to continue to rely on the casting vote of Lord Provost George Grubb to break the deadlock in crucial decisions.
Mr Day, formerly a youth worker in the area, paid tribute to his Ms Maginnis, who died suddenly in September, and promised to "carry on her fighting spirit" for the people of the Forth ward.
He said: "I'm shocked, elated and shaken to have won the by-election.
"I think the result shows that the people of Forth have seen that Labour is the true fighting party of Edinburgh.
"I hope to bring to the council what Elizabeth Maginnis brought to the council, which is a fight.
"The key issue of for us right now is to continue to fight the ruling administration's cuts in local services."
Mr Day added that he will also fight to clean up the streets in areas like Granton and will campaign for more police on the streets of Forth.
He added: "I'm younger than Ms Maginnis and I hope to use this, alongside my experience as a youth worker, to engage young people into politics."
Like Ms Maginnis before him, Mr Day was selected at the ninth stage of the council's single transferable vote (STV) system, meaning he failed to achieve the required 50 per cent of the vote until the final stage of selection.
Labour group leader Andrew Burns paid tribute to his candidate's "inspiring victory".
However, City Council leader Jenny Dawe indicated that the protracted STV selection process demonstrates that the result was not an all-out endorsement for Labour.
She said: "The fact that the result went down to the final round of selection tells its own story."
Presiding officer Tom Aitchison said the voting process went smoothly, with none of the electronic voting problems that marred the full council elections in 2007.
Voter turn out was roughly 40 per cent down on last year's election, and this was reflected in the results with most of the parties maintaining their relative share of the diminished vote.
While the night was Labour's, the biggest cheer was reserved for former Scottish Youth Parliament chairman and Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack winner John Loughton, who won 297 votes standing as an independent.
Mr Loughton's engaging spirit went down well with all parties, and Cammy Day vowed to work with him to energise the youth vote in the ward.
Mr Loughton said: "Nearly 300 people voted for an individual and a set of beliefs rather than a party. That is what politics is all about."
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