Lara Bird has held Arbroath and Broughty Ferry for the SNP, winning a majority of 5,278 over the Conservatives. Bird received 9,802 votes, or 41.2% of valid votes, ahead of Conservative Jack Cruickshank on 4,524 and 19.0%.
The result was declared on 19 June after voting on Thursday 18 June. Stephen Gethins’s resignation in May triggered the by-election.
Reform UK finished close behind the Conservatives with 4,341 votes, while Labour received 3,651 and the Liberal Democrats 1,452. Angus Council reported 31.36% turnout, with 23,827 ballot papers cast, including 57 rejected ballots.
Arbroath and Broughty Ferry: full result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lara Bird | SNP | 9,802 | 41.2% |
| Jack Cruickshank | Conservative | 4,524 | 19.0% |
| Bill Reid | Reform UK | 4,341 | 18.3% |
| Heather Doran | Labour | 3,651 | 15.4% |
| Tanvir Ahmad | Liberal Democrats | 1,452 | 6.1% |
Shares are calculated from 23,770 valid votes and rounded to one decimal place. Totals may differ slightly from 100% through rounding.
A wider SNP lead on much lower turnout
Gethins won the seat in 2024 with 15,581 votes and a majority of just 859 over Labour’s Cheryl-Ann Cruickshank. Bird’s vote total was 5,779 lower, but the SNP increased its share from 35.3% to 41.2% and substantially widened its lead.
Labour fell from second to fourth, with its vote declining from 14,722 to 3,651. The Conservatives moved into second place despite receiving fewer votes than in 2024, when they polled 6,841.
Reform increased its vote from 3,800 to 4,341, coming within 183 votes of the Conservatives. Its share rose from 8.6% to 18.3% as the overall number of votes fell.
The low turnout matters when comparing these results: fewer people voted for the SNP, but the party won by a much larger margin because its principal general election challenger lost considerably more votes. The result gives Bird the seat without establishing that SNP support increased across the constituency’s electorate.
See our Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency profile for MP details and local data, and our guide to comparing election results.
Sources: Angus Council’s signed declaration and Parliament’s 2024 result. Candidate names and vote totals follow the returning officer’s declaration.