CLYDEBANK Central residents will head to the polls tomorrow to elect a new councillor after disgraced former representative Craig Edward was forced to resign.

Voting will get underway from 7am on Thursday, June 13 with the seven available polling places remaining open until the vote closes at 10pm.

The count will take place immediately after the polls close, with a declaration as soon as possible thereafter.

The by-election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, which asks voters to mark their candidates in numerical order of preference.

On election day, voters number a list of candidates in order of preference by putting their favourite as number one, their second favourite number two, and so on but can put numbers next to as many or as few candidates as they like. 

To get elected, a candidate needs a set amount of votes, known as the quota. The people counting the votes work out the quota based on the number of vacancies and the number of votes cast.

We previously reported there are seven candidates for the by-election taking place tomorrow (Thursday).

They are:

Fiona Hennebry – Scottish Labour Party

Nathan Hennebry – Communist Party of Britain

Ewan McGinnigle – Scottish Conservative and Unionist

Andrew Joseph Muir – Independent

Kai Robert Murray Pyper – Scottish Liberal Democrats

Marina Scanlan – Scottish National Party (SNP)

Kelly Wilson – Sovereignty

Following the previous local elections, the number of councillors elected for each party in May 2022, was Labour – 12, SNP- 9 and the West Dunbartonshire Community Party – 1.

After he was initially charged, Edwards who had been a Labour councillor sat as an independent meaning the number of seats held by the party was 11. 

The Clydebank Central by-election was then called to appoint a replacement for disgraced former councillor, who resigned after admitting to possessing indecent images of children, for which he has been jailed for 28 months.

Speaking ahead of the vote, returning officer, chief executive Peter Hessett, said: “It is extremely important that West Dunbartonshire residents use their vote to have their say on who they want to represent them.

“The successful candidate elected as a Councillor will make decisions on behalf of residents about local services including roads, parks, schools and planning.

“But only residents in the Clydebank Central ward who are registered ahead of the deadline will have the opportunity to cast their vote.”