The 2021 Airdrie and Shotts by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Airdrie and Shotts following the resignation of the sitting member (MP),

Neil Gray Neil Charles Gray (born 16 March 1986) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Airdr ...

, to run for the corresponding seat (which he subsequently won) in the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021 under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. It was the sixth Scottish Parliament election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. 129 Member of the Scottish Parliament, ...

. This was necessitated by

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

(SNP) rules banning its members from sitting as an MSP and an MP at the same time. It took place on 13 May 2021, a week after the Scottish Parliament elections, to reduce

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

transmission risk. The by-election was the second to the 58th Parliament elected in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. This by-election ended a long lull between House of Commons by-elections in Scotland, with the last one having been held in Inverclyde in 2011. This was the first by-election to a Westminster constituency in which the SNP was the defending party. Anum Qaisar-Javed held the seat for the SNP with a decreased majority but an increased share of the vote.

Background

Airdrie and Shotts is a generally working-class, urban seat, and contains the towns of Airdrie,

Calderbank Calderbank is a village outside the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies east of the M73 motorway, M73, on the west bank of the North Calder Water. The village lies east of Glasgow city centre and a ...

Chapelhall Chapelhall (from the Gaelic Seipeal Allt - Chapel by a burn) is a village outside the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. With house building, the distinction between Airdrie and Chapelhall is being eroded. Established as a small m ...

Glenmavis Glenmavis is a village in the North Lanarkshire area of Scotland. It is about northwest of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie on the B802 road. It has a population of around (). Etymology The etymology of the name is ‘glen of the song-thrus ...

and

Shotts Shotts is a small town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). The town has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertra ...

. Previous MPs for the seat include the former Labour cabinet ministers

Helen Liddell Helen Lawrie Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke PC (' Reilly; born 6 December 1950) is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003 and British High Commissioner to Australia from 2005 t ...

and John Reid, both of whom now sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

was elected as the

(SNP) MP for Airdrie and Shotts at the

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Conservative Party (U ...

, and was re-elected in both

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

. In November 2020, Gray announced that he would be resigning as an MP in order to try and win a seat in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

constituency of the same name at the

. On 23 March 2021, he made his final speech in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, and was appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead a day later.

Candidates

Jonathan Stanley had already been announced as the Scottish Unionist Party candidate for a potential Airdrie and Shotts by-election in September 2020. On 18 March 2021, Anum Qaisar-Javed was selected as the SNP's candidate for the by-election. She was a Labour Party member until at least 2014, and was the general secretary of Muslim Friends of Labour. She had previously worked as a caseworker to an SNP MSP and as a parliamentary researcher to an SNP MP. At the time of declaring her candidacy she was a modern studies teacher. On 25 March 2021, local councillor

Kenneth Stevenson Kenneth William Stevenson (9 November 1949 – 12 January 2011) was the eighth Bishop of Portsmouth in the Church of England. Life Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 19 November 1949. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and the University ...

was selected by

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

to contend the by-election. He beat a former MP for the constituency and the chief executive of Scotland in Union,

Pamela Nash Pamela Ann Catherine Nash (born 24 June 1984) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke since 2024. She previously served as Chief Executive of Scotland in Union, ...

. The

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1, ...

candidate was Stephen Arrundale, the party's treasurer. He had previously stood as a candidate for

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

in the 2019 General Election.

Result

2019 result

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Airdrie and Shotts by-election, 2021 2021 elections in the United Kingdom 2021 in Scotland 2020s elections in Scotland Airdrie, North Lanarkshire By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies 2021 Airdrie 2021 Airdrie Shotts