2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election
5 October 2023
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Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 37.2% ( 29.3 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||
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A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Rutherglen and Hamilton West was held on 5 October 2023, following the recall of incumbent Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Margaret Ferrier. The by-election was won by Michael Shanks of the Labour Party with a large swing of 20.4%.
Ferrier, elected for the SNP, was suspended from her party in October 2020 after it emerged she had significantly breached COVID-19 restrictions. She was subsequently charged and sentenced. In June 2023, Ferrier was suspended from the House of Commons in for 30 days in relation to her actions in 2020. In accordance with the Recall of MPs Act 2015, this suspension triggered a recall petition in the constituency, which was successful, resulting in her removal from the seat and thus triggering a by-election.