The SNP wrote a new chapter in Angus politics as they stormed to victory in the county’s two reshaped constituencies with thumping majorities.
Notional projections in the substantially redrawn Angus South and Angus North and Mearns had pointed clearly towards Nationalist wins, but the scale of the triumph was beyond both the calculations of experts and the expectations of victors.
Those same notional votes based on 2007 patterns also exposed the local extent of the Liberal Democrat collapse felt throughout Scotland as support evaporated to a fraction of the predicted share.
From the very early stages of the dual count at Arbroath’s Saltire leisure centre, the signs looked good for the SNP and just after 5am came the Angus South declaration and confirmation of a dominant performance from former journalist Graeme Dey.
A former sports editor of The Courier, Mr Dey brought the Nats home with a 58% share of the first past the post contest, polling 16,164 votes to dump Tory Hughie Campbell Adamson into second place with 5581 votes (20.19%).
Labour’s William Campbell was third and at the tail end of the contest there was a moral victory for the newly created Angus Independents Representatives (AIR) whose sole constituency candidate, David Fairweather, took 1321 votes to leave Lib Dem Clive Sneddon trailing home last with just 874 votes (3.16%).
“I am genuinely humbled and honoured to be standing here as the MSP for Angus South, and I pledge myself to maintain the SNP tradition of accessible, hard-working parliamentarians,” said Mr Dey.
“We ran a magnificent campaign and achieved a fantastic result,” he added, paying tribute to his family and campaign team.
Mr Dey, who described the constituency fight as “adult, respectful and fair” said it was a thrill to take the seat with what is believed to be the biggest percentage share of the vote and the largest majority the party has seen in Angus.’Incredible'”To be a first-time candidate and win with this size of majority is just incredible,” added the 48-year-old father of two. “I know people were ready to put their faith in the SNP and let me pay tribute to the party colleagues who have gone before me we won on the back of what they have done and the work of the SNP councillors on Angus Council.
“I look forward to being part of the Scottish government and I know from the campaign that there are a lot of very localised issues in Angus,” he continued. “One thing that does run through all the burghs in Angus is the issue of our high streets and I hope to work with all the parties on that and other matters.”
After resetting his body clock following the gruelling finale to the campaign, Mr Dey revealed his first outing as a new MSP will be to join another local celebration on Saturday.
“I have been invited to the title celebrations of Arbroath FC and, having covered all their promotions in my former working role, I look forward to being able to enjoy this as a local football fan.”
The Saltire centre’s nationalist entourage had less than half an hour to wait for their double delight as former list MSP Nigel Don was announced the winner of the Angus North and Mearns constituency.
With 13,660 votes, Mr Don polled more than double that of Tory rival Alex Johnstone and his 29% majority was significantly ahead of the notional projection for the second most redrawn seat in Scotland.
Scottish Labour’s Kevin Hutchens took 3160 votes (12.68%) to relegate Lib Dem Sanjay Samani into fourth place with 1726 votes (6.92%).
One-time Dundee City councillor Mr Don said he was delighted to secure the constituency post having served on the north east list at Holyrood since 2007.Responsibility”I think every politician wants their own area of clearly defined responsibility you know you’re their man and they know you’re their man,” he said.
He said there was no doubt in his mind that the SNP had gained votes at the Liberal Democrats’ expense, blaming the Westminster effect for some of that dramatic fall-off.
“I really wasn’t concerned about the notional vote, I just wanted to do as well as we could for the SNP and I think we have achieved that through a hard work ethic and because of the party’s reputation. The Lib Dem vote has disappeared like snow off a dyke across the country more than anyone dared fear, I would say.
“I am extremely pleased this is a team game and I have an extremely dedicated group of people to thank for this result.”
Mr Don made an early promise to put key local issues at the top of his Holyrood agenda including the A90 Laurencekirk junction where a campaign for a grade separated crossing is sure to be fought with renewed vigour in the wake of the election.
The new MSP also said he would like to see “joined-up tourism” take on greater prominence in his new constituency.
“There are many good things being done, but I think we still have some work to do in that area. We have festivals, events, attractions and businesses but they seem at times to be working in isolation, ploughing their own furrow and it is something I think we can look at.”
Vanquished Conservative Alex Johnstone said, “On a night when the SNP have done well and other parties have suffered, I think the Conservative party have something to be proud of here. We have performed very well against the notional results, where I think we have achieved a slightly positive swing.”
Photos by Jim Ratcliffe.For more election coverage, click here.