Colinton/Fairmilehead – second by-election will be held in January

A second by-election will be held in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward following the resignation of Cllr Marco Biagi.

Residents will be able to cast their votes on Thursday 23 January 2025 to select a new councillor to represent the ward. The ward, which also covers Bonaly, Dreghorn, Oxgangs and Swanston has a current electorate of 19,907. 

Only last week a by-election in the same ward resulted in a Liberal Democrat win when Cllr Louise Spence became one of the three elected members who represent the ward. Cllr Jason Rust who remains in post is the Conservative representative for the area.

On Friday 6 December 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: “Last week’s by-election saw the highest turnout for a mainland council by-election this year, and I hope the residents of Colinton/ Fairmilehead will show similar enthusiasm in January when they have the opportunity to choose their new councillor.

“I want to wish outgoing councillor, Marco Biagi, well in his future role and thank him for his service on the Council.”

Mr Biagi is becoming a special adviser with The Scottish Government, and for that reason he had to resign his position as councillor – he was only elected in 2022 – with immediate effect.

Candidates will be confirmed when nominations close at 4pm on Thursday 17 December.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 23 January.

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.

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/elections