# 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election

The 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election was a by-election that was held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Aberdeen Donside on Thursday 20 June, following the death from cancer of the constituency's MSP, Brian Adam.
The seat was created as Aberdeen North following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. In the first election to the Scottish Parliament the seat was won by the Scottish Labour Party, but was gained by Brian Adam (who had contested, but lost, the seat in 1999) for the Scottish National Party in the next election. He held the seat in 2007 and 2011 with increased majorities. In the last election, Adam held the seat with a majority of 7,175 votes.
In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP became the first ever majority government of the Scottish Parliament, winning 69 seats out of 129. Prior to Adam's death, however, the SNP only held a majority of one (following the election of Tricia Marwick as presiding officer and the departure of three other MSPs). This meant that if the SNP lost the by-election then the government would lose its overall majority.
SNP list MSP for the North-East region, Mark McDonald, resigned his seat to contest the constituency by-election. McDonald held the seat for the SNP, but with a significantly reduced majority on a lower turnout.

## Result

Nine candidates contested the election, with their detail published on 17 May 2013.
Aberdeen Donside by-election, 20 June 2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Mark McDonald | 9,814 | 41.98 | −13.42 |
| | Labour | Willie Young | 7,789 | 33.32 | +4.82 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christine Jardine | 1,940 | 8.30 | +3.10 |
| | Conservative | Ross Thomson | 1,791 | 7.66 | −0.44 |
| | UKIP | Otto Inglis | 1,128 | 4.83 | +4.03 |
| | Scottish Green | Rhonda Reekie | 410 | 1.75 | New |
| | National Front | Dave MacDonald | 249 | 1.07 | +0.27 |
| | Scottish Christian | Tom Morrow | 222 | 0.95 | New |
| | SDA | James Trolland | 35 | 0.15 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,025 | 8.66 | −18.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,396 | 38.8 | |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | | |

## Scottish Parliament election result, 2011

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Aberdeen Donside :
| Notes: | Notes: | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Y Brian Adam | Y Brian Adam | 14,790 | 55.4 | +10.6 | 14,526 | 54.2 | |
| | Labour | Barney Crockett | Barney Crockett | 7,615 | 28.5 | -3.2 | 6,237 | 23.3 | |
| | Conservative | Ross Thomson | Ross Thomson | 2,166 | 8.1 | +0.6 | 2,076 | 7.7 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Millie McLeod | Millie McLeod | 1,606 | 6.0 | -10.0 | 1,390 | 5.2 | |
| | Scottish Green | | | | | | 683 | 2.5 | |
| | All Scotland Pensioners Party | | | | | | 544 | 2.0 | |
| | Socialist Labour | | | | | | 231 | 0.9 | |
| | Scottish Socialist | | | | | | 220 | 0.8 | |
| | UKIP | | | | | | 217 | 0.8 | |
| | Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship" | | | | | | 210 | 0.8 | |
| | BNP | | | | | | 177 | 0.7 | |
| | Independent | David Henderson | David Henderson | 317 | 1.2 | New | 77 | 0.3 | |
| | National Front | Christopher Willett | Christopher Willett | 213 | 0.8 | New | 135 | 0.5 | |
| | Independent - John Cox | | | | | | 38 | 0.1 | |
| | Solidarity | | | | | | 17 | 0.1 | |
| | Independent - Andrew McBride | | | | | | 8 | 0.03 | |
| | Angus Independent Representatives | | | | | | 6 | 0.02 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 26,707 | | | 26,792 | | |