Glasgow North East

First things first: I'm very disappointed in the result. Not so much that we lost, but that we had all worked so hard for so long for little in return. I didn't forsee such a gap between us, and was pretty shocked to see the votes stacking up so emphatically for Labour at the count.

The low turnout was equally disappointing - so many people clearly felt there was no point in voting.

I had discussions on doorsteps with many people, gave them many good reasons to give the SNP a try in this by-election. The relentless negativity from Labour seemed to seep right into the bones of the electorate, and we were unable to shake this off.

From here, we will as a party do the post mortem, dust ourselves off, and do better next time. Lessons will learned, as they are from every result.

This, too, will pass.

Update:

One thing which I forgot to mention - on the stage at the count, there was a shiny slide show of glamorous Glasgow locations, clearly places civic leaders are proud of and want to show to visiting correspondents. These included the Kelvingrove and Royal Exchange Square, but didn't showcase any locations in Glasgow North East. How odd...