A Perthshire councillor has described voters returning her to local politics as a “great honour”.
Scottish Conservatives have welcomed the dramatic selection of Kathleen Baird after she won the Almond and Earn council ward seat, which was vacated following the death of Alan Jack in January.
Mrs Baird won the seat on Thursday night, amassing 1,651 of stage one of the first preference votes, defeating Wilma Lumsden of the SNP, who came second with 1,327 votes.
The result means a return to local politics for Mrs Baird, who previously served as a councillor for 13 years up to 2011 when she lost her Kinross-shire ward seat.
She said: “It is a great honour to be elected by the voters in Almond and Earn to represent them on Perth and Kinross Council, and I would like to thank them for putting their trust in me.
“I would also like to thank all those who helped with my election campaign in delivering this stunning result for the Conservatives.”
The election win was hailed by Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who said it was a “great result” and claimed it is the latest in a string of by-elections where the Tory vote has “increased significantly.”
“We are heading for our best ever Holyrood result in May and this victory over the SNP in Almond and Earn shows just how special an election this could be,” she said.
“People across Scotland recognise that we need a strong opposition and the Scottish Conservatives are best placed to provide it.”
Liz Smith, Conservative candidate for the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire seat, said: “This is an outstanding result for an outstanding candidate.
“Kathleen Baird is not only a highly regarded and popular member of the local community but also someone whose council record in the past demonstrated that she is a dedicated campaigner on the issues which matter most to the electorate.”
Both Mrs Baird and Ms Lumsden were well ahead of the other candidates in terms of votes cast. Dave MacKenzie, of Scottish Labour, received 219, with former Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor George Hayton getting 157 votes and Denise Baykal, of Ukip, receiving 77 votes.
There was a 39.3% turnout.