Summary
Parties gear up for a by-election as MP Margaret Ferrier loses her seat. The constituents for Rutherglen and Hamilton West have voted to remove Ferrier from office, where she has sat as an independent MP after being kicked out of the SNP in 2020 for breaching Covid travel rules. Following a 30 day suspension from the commons, the recall petition to remove her was signed by almost 15% of the eligible constituents, passing the 10% threshold which triggers a by-election. With party campaigning now beginning in earnest, both the SNP and Labour are eyeing up the seat, hoping this electoral test will prove their leaders' mettle ahead of the next general election.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds |
| 0:02.4 | You're listening to BBC Scotland |
| 0:09.5 | Hi, you're listening to Podlitical BBC Scotland's podcast |
| 0:16.0 | that brings you an inside look at the biggest stories |
| 0:18.5 | coming out of Holyrood and Westminster. |
| 0:20.6 | It's |
| 0:20.8 | eight minutes past 12. On Wednesday the 2nd of August, I'm Lucy White, a journalist based |
| 0:26.5 | in Glasgow, and today I'm joined by... |
| 0:28.7 | I'm Phil Sim, a journalist in Edinburgh. And I'm Andrew Kerr, a journalist covering |
| 0:33.1 | the Rutherglin and Hamilton West by election. Andrew Kerr, currently in a car, somewhere in that constituency. |
| 0:39.9 | Is that right? |
| 0:41.0 | It is, Lucy, indeed. |
| 0:42.2 | I am behind the rather nice Ruthergland Town Hall, |
| 0:46.1 | just sitting in a car park having met party leaders and candidates |
| 0:51.5 | just after we got that news that there would indeed be a by-election |
| 0:55.9 | in Ruthergland and Hamilton West. 8,000 people were needed to sign that petition to get |
| 1:01.1 | it over the line to remove Margaret Ferrier for breaking those COVID regulations and just under |
| 1:06.3 | 12,000 people signed it. And they're quick off the mark, aren't they? Because the reason we're |
| 1:11.2 | convening for this a podcast out of our regular schedule is because we got it yesterday. |
| 1:16.3 | The only way to be for by-elections, clearly. Yeah, the last time we were together was a |
| 1:20.5 | by-election too. And that was kind of late yesterday. And're they're officially launching their campaigns. |
| 1:29.8 | Yes and we did expect this actually because this has been so long running in the making. |
... |
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