Council confirms Rutherglen & Hamilton West byelection date

The date for the long-awaited Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection has been officially confirmed by South Lanarkshire Council.

The Westminster constituency has been without an MP since locals voted to unseat independent Margaret Ferrier.

That came after a long-running process to investigate then censure her for breaching Covid isolation and travel rules in 2020.

More than 15 per cent of the local electorate added their names to the recall petition which removed Ferrier against a minimum threshold of 10 per cent.

On Monday Ferrier's former party, the SNP, moved the writ for the byelection and South Lanarkshire Council's returning officer has now confirmed the date of 5 October.

All nomination papers must be submitted by 12 September.

While Ferrier is allowed to stand again under the rules, she has confirmed that she will not do so.

However, there has been significant campaign activity in the constituency over the summer as Labour seeks to regain the seat and the SNP works for its first major win under Humza Yousaf. 

The Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the Scottish Greens and several other players, including Volt UK and the Independence for Scotland party, have also declared their intention to stand.