UK's Conservatives win local election in Scotland

The Conservative Party won a historic by-election in Aberdeen, Scotland, marking their first Westminster parliamentary seat victory in 50 years, boosting their opposition to the Labour government.

The Conservative Party won ​a local election in the ​oil town of Aberdeen ‌on Friday, ​the first time the Scottish branch of the party has won a so-called by-election contest for ‌a Westminster parliamentary seat for the first time in 50 years. While the most consequential local election for decades took place south of the border, ‌where Labour's Andy Burnham cleared a path to ousting Prime Minister ‌Keir Starmer by winning a parliamentary seat in northern England, the Scottish result was a fillip for the Conservative Party.

The Conservatives are Britain's main opposition party but they placed ⁠fourth ​in the ⁠by-election Burnham won, registering only a tiny share of the vote. Conservative Douglas Lumsden took ⁠Aberdeen South from the Scottish National Party, saying the result showed voters wanted to ​stop what he called "the destruction of the oil and gas industry".

As ⁠fossil fuel prices have risen during the Iran war, the position of Britain's Labour ⁠government, ​which is focused on growing the renewable energy industry while only allowing new oil and gas licences near existing fields, has stoked ⁠division. In another Scottish by-election for a Westminster seat in Arbroath and Broughty ⁠Ferry, about ⁠70 miles north of Edinburgh, it was announced on Friday that Lara Bird had held the seat for the ‌Scottish National ‌Party.