Tag: by-elections

Candidates confirmed for Edinburgh by-elections

The candidates standing in the upcoming Southside/Newington (Ward 15) and Portobello/Craigmillar (Ward 17) by-elections have been confirmed.

23 candidates will stand in these by-elections, which will elect one new councillor per ward, on Thursday 3 September 2026.

The candidates standing for election in the Southside/Newington ward are:

  • Ruth Elliot: SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
  • Derrick Emms: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE
  • Isabella Gastel Alejandre: SCOTTISH GREENS
  • Roisin Keirdashian: INDEPENDENT
  • Artie Khovanov: SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
  • Nick Layden: SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST
  • Richard Crewe Lucas: SCOTTISH FAMILY PARTY – CHRISTIAN VALUES
  • Sam Alexander Mackenzie: SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP)
  • Sean McGregor Moffat: ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM
  • Gary Neill: REFORM UK
  • Markham Rowbotham: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE
  • Richard Shillcock: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN
  • Marc Wilkinson: EDINBURGH & EAST LOTHIAN PEOPLE

The candidates standing for election in the Portobello/Craigmillar ward are:

  • David Craig Ballantine: ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM
  • Niel Deepnarain: SCOTTISH FAMILY PARTY – CHRISTIAN VALUES
  • Pete Gregson: WORKERS PARTY OF BRITIAN
  • Lorenzo Martinico: SCOTTISH GREENS
  • Silas McGilvray: SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP)
  • Andrew McLaughlin: REFORM UK
  • Peter Olech: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN
  • Liss Owen: SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
  • Jim Patrick Wyke: SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
  • Haris Young: SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST

The final candidate lists and further information are also available on the Council website.

Returning Officer for the City of Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said: “With nominations now closed and just over a month to go until polling day, residents in these wards can start thinking about who they will vote for.

“Councillors play a key role in our democratic system, making crucial decisions that impact our city.

“I’d encourage everyone who is eligible to register to vote in plenty of time, and then make their voices heard in September.”

Poll cards will be delivered to registered voters in the area from today, with further information on when and where to vote.

If you live in these wards, the deadline to register to vote in these by-elections is 18 August. For new postal vote applications, it’s 19 August and for new proxy votes it’s 26 August.

Find out more about registering to vote on the Council website.

The election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.

Polling places will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 3 September.

Please check your polling place as this may have changed since the last time you voted. If you bring your polling card to vote this will help us and speed up the process, but this isn’t mandatory.

Polling Places (Ward 15):

  • Nelson Hall Community Centre (New for 2026)
  • Blackford and Grange Parish Church Centre
  • St. Catherine’s Argyle Church
  • Newington Trinity Church
  • Reid Memorial Church Hall
  • 75th Braid Scouts’ Millar Hall
  • Cameron House Community Education Centre

Polling Places (Ward 17):

  • Portobello Library (New for 2026)
  • Branch Out Together
  • St Mark’s Episcopal Church (New for 2026)
  • Bingham Community Centre
  • St Martins Parish Church
  • Craigmillar Library
  • Hays Business Centre
  • Newcraighall Leith Victoria FC

The electronic count will take place at Waverley Court, starting at the close of poll at 10pm on September 3. 

Richard Shillcock, the Communist Party of Britain candidate for the Southside/Newington ward, has officially declared that tackling the city’s housing crisis through municipal house building will be a core priority of the Communist Party campaign for the upcoming City of Edinburgh Council by-elections on 3 September 2026.

Richard Shillcock emphasised that the current market-driven approach has failed local residents, arguing that a massive return to publicly owned housing is the only viable solution.

“Edinburgh has a housing crisis and there is only one answer to it—build council houses,” he said. “We need the Council to build, own, maintain, and administer council housing and not leave such an important issue to the free market.”

The Communist Party campaign outline focuses heavily on local job creation and public investment, linking a housing strategy directly to local economic development and skills training.

Shillcock added: “We need to employ council staff and invest in a new generation of apprentices to learn the skills required to build and maintain the highest quality council housing.

“Large-scale council house building was the best answer to the postwar housing crisis. It worked. Since then, turning homes into commodities in a market has failed us.”

Addressing potential concerns regarding budgets, Shillcock pointed to historical precedents and called for a major shift in public spending priorities away from military conflict and toward domestic infrastructure.

“If the money could be found in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, it can be found now. “The Communist Party would spend on homes for people, not endless warfare,” Shillcock concluded.

The Southside/Newington and Craigmillar/Portobello by-elections will take place on Thursday, 3 September 2026.

Shillcock is standing alongside fellow Communist candidate Peter Olech, who is standing in the Portobello/Craigmillar ward, on a platform of peace, public ownership, tax justice and workers’ rights.

Communist Party candidates to stand as “a socialist alternative” for Edinburgh voters

The Communist Party of Britain has today (Friday 17 July 2026) officially launched its campaign for the upcoming Edinburgh City Council by-elections, announcing a slate of candidates running on a platform of peace, public ownership, tax justice and workers’ rights.

The party will stand candidates in both the Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar wards.

A Communist Party spokesperson said: “”Our candidates are standing to address the city’s growing housing crisis, its underfunded public services, and the rising cost of living. 

“We are offering voters a distinct socialist alternative to the mainstream political parties.”

Key Platform Priorities

Housing for Need, Not Profit: Immediate rent freezes, a cap on short-term holiday lets, and an expansion of high-quality, municipal council housing.

Funding Local Services: Reversing budget cuts to local services such as libraries, community centres, road maintenance and youth services by demanding a fairer funding model from national government and taxing the wealthiest in the city.

Investment in people not wars: Demand an end to funding genocide in Palestine and endless foreign wars and instead spend that money for the benefit of working class people.

Peter Olech, the Communist Party candidate in Portobello/Craigmillar ward, said: “Edinburgh is a city of vast wealth, yet working-class communities are being priced out of their own homes and left with crumbling public services.”

Richard Shillcock the Communist Party candidate for Southside/Newington ward, added: “We are standing in this election to give a voice to working class people and to fight for a city managed in the interests of the many, not the wealthy elite. 

“Edinburgh Council should have greater responsibility for local economic development, with increased investment in council housing and public services.”

Residents will go to the polls on Thursday 3 September to elect one new councillor in each ward. The current electorate is 24,304 for Southside/Newington and 27,347 for Portobello/Craigmillar.

PICTURED: Peter Olech (L) and Richard Shillcock (R) outside City of Edinburgh Council Chambers after declaring as candidates.

Nominations open for council by-elections

The formal Notice of Election for by-elections in the Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar wards has been published.

Candidate nominations open today from 10am until 4pm on 31 July. Residents will go to the polls on September 3

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Edinburgh by-elections will take place in September

Two by-elections will be held in the Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar wards following the resignations of Councillors Simita Kumar and Kate Campbell.

Residents will go to the polls on Thursday 3 September to elect one new councillor in each ward. The current electorate is 24,304 for Southside/Newington and 27,347 for Portobello/Craigmillar. 

SNP councillors Campbell and Kumar were elected to the Scottish Parliament in May’s elections.

Green councillor Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill, was also elected to Holyrood through the list system but she has decided to ‘double up’, serving as an MSP whilst also remaining a councillor in Forth ward until next year’s council elections.

On 15 July the formal Notice of Election will be published, and the Election Timetable, Election Notices and Nomination Papers will all be accessible on the Council website.

Returning Officer for Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said: “I’d like to thank Councillors Kumar and Campbell for their service as elected members and I wish them all the best in their new roles at Holyrood.

“We’ll now begin preparing for these by-elections to make sure our residents are able to make their voices heard and elect their new representatives to the City Chambers.

“I’d urge everyone in these wards to make sure they are registered to vote and to check that they have asked for a postal or proxy vote if that is what they need.”

Details on how to register to vote or request a postal vote and other key information can be found on the Council website. 

Nomination papers can be submitted from 10am on 16 July until 4pm on 31 July to the Returning Officer in the City Chambers. 

Candidates will be confirmed after nominations close on 31 July.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 3 September.

The election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.

The deadline to register to vote in these by-elections is 18 August. For new postal vote applications, it’s 19 August and for new proxy votes it’s 26 August.