A by election will be called in the Colinton/Fairmilehead Ward on 14 November 2024 to replace Labour councillor Scott Arthur who has resigned.
Dr Arthur was elected as MP for Edinburgh South West, and had always intended to step down from the council to concentrate on Westminster.
The two other elected members in the three member ward are Jason Rust, Scottish Conservatives and Marco Biagi, a former SNP Minister who was elected to the council for the first time in 2022.
The turnout at the last election in 2022 – the second time Scott Arthur was elected, was 59%, and Labour won a third of the first preference share. Seven parties put up candidates then, although it is not yet clear yes exactly who will stand this time.
FORMAL PROCESS
On Thursday 14 November, Colinton/Fairmilehead residents will go to the polls to select a new councillor to represent the ward. The ward, which also covers Bonaly, Dreghorn, Oxgangs and Swanston has a current electorate of 19,226.
On Thursday 26 September the formal Notice of Election will be published and the Election Timetable, Election Notices and Nomination Papers will all be accessible from the City of Edinburgh Council website.
The Returning Officer, Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, Paul Lawrence said: “Following his election as Member of Parliament for the Edinburgh South West constituency in the UK Parliament, Dr Scott Arthur has formally resigned as a member of the City of Edinburgh Council and I wish him well in the future.
“Voters in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward now have a chance to make their voices heard again to elect a councillor to take his place to represent them on the city of Edinburgh Council.”
Candidates will be confirmed when nominations close at 4pm on Monday 14 October.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 14 November.
The election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system where voters can rank candidates in order of preference rather than using a single cross. Voters can give a rank to as many or as few candidates as they like.
Find out more about elections in Edinburgh and how to register to vote on the Council website.
If you are standing as a candidate then please get in touch with us as we would like to conduct interviews in person with every candidate.
These are the candidates we know about so far:
Scottish Conservatives are fielding the same candidate as they did in 2022, Neil Cuthbert.
Edinburgh Greens have a new candidate, Daniel Milligan.
David Henry is the Independent Candidate.
Sheila Gilmore is standing for Scottish Labour
In 2022 Louise Spence stood for election for the LibDems.
In May 2022 these candidates stood in Ward 8:
Ward 8 – Colinton/ Fairmilehead
- Scottish Labour Party – ARTHUR, Scott
- Scottish National Party (SNP) – BIAGI, Marco
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist – CUTHBERT, Neil
- Scottish Family Party: Pro-Family, Pro-Marriage, Pro-Life – LUCAS, Richard Crewe
- Scottish Green Party – MCCABE, Helen
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist – RUST, Jason
- Scottish Liberal Democrats – SPENCE, Louise Watson
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
