List of by-elections to the Scottish Parliament

This is a list of by-elections to the Scottish Parliament, in reverse chronological order. These occur when a constituency seat becomes vacant, due to the death or resignation of a member. Also listed are vacancies that occurred in the regional list seats - these are filled by the next available candidate on the party list from the previous election, or remain vacant if the list is now empty or the MSP was elected as an independent.

Where seats changed political party at the by-election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour gain, yellow for a Scottish National Party (SNP) gain, blue for a Conservative gain, orange for a Liberal Democrat gain, and grey for any other gain.

List of by-elections for constituency members

2011 - 2016 Parliamentary term
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Cowdenbeath	23 January 2014	Helen Eadie		Labour	Alex Rowley		Labour	Death (cancer)
Dunfermline	24 October 2013	Bill Walker		SNP	Cara Hilton		Labour	Resignation (convicted of assault)
Aberdeen Donside	20 June 2013	Brian Adam		SNP	Mark McDonald		SNP	Death (cancer)
2003 - 2007 Parliamentary term
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Moray	27 April 2006	Margaret Ewing		SNP	Richard Lochhead		SNP	Death (breast cancer)
Glasgow Cathcart	29 September 2005	Mike Watson		Labour	Charlie Gordon		Labour	Resignation (convicted of fire-raising)
1999 - 2003 Parliamentary term
By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause
Banff and Buchan	7 June 2001	Alex Salmond		SNP	Stewart Stevenson		SNP	Resignation
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	7 June 2001	Sam Galbraith		Labour	Brian Fitzpatrick		Labour	Resignation (health reasons)
Glasgow Anniesland	23 November 2000	Donald Dewar		Labour	Bill Butler		Labour	Death (brain hemorrhage)
Ayr	16 March 20001	Ian Welsh		Labour	John Scott		Conservative	Resignation (family reasons)
1 - Gain retained at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election.

List of regional list member changes

2011 - 2016 Parliamentary term
Region	Date	Incumbent	Party		Replacement	Party		Cause
Lothian	4 April 2014	Margo MacDonald		Independent	None (seat left vacant)		N/A	Death
Lothian	12 August 2013	David McLetchie		Conservative	Cameron Buchanan		Conservative	Death
North East Scotland	15 May 2013	Mark McDonald		SNP	Christian Allard		SNP	Resignation in order to contest Aberdeen Donside
Mid Scotland and Fife	7 December 2012	John Park		Labour	Jayne Baxter		Labour	Resignation to take up a post with the Community Trade Union
2007 - 2011 Parliamentary term
Region	Date	Incumbent	Party		Replacement	Party		Cause
Glasgow	6 February 2009	Bashir Ahmad		SNP	Anne McLaughlin		SNP	Death
Lothians	31 August 2007	Stefan Tymkewycz		SNP	Shirley-Anne Somerville		SNP	Resignation to concentrate on Edinburgh City Council work (in 2007 both elections were held on the same day. He ended up winning both)
2003 - 2007 Parliamentary term
Region	Date	Incumbent	Party		Replacement	Party		Cause
Highlands and Islands	19 April 2006	Mary Scanlon		Conservative	Dave Petrie		Conservative	Resignation in order to contest Moray
North East Scotland	19 April 2006	Richard Lochhead		SNP	Maureen Watt		SNP	Resignation in order to contest Moray
South of Scotland	22 June 2005	David Mundell		Conservative	Derek Brownlee		Conservative	Resignation (elected as MP)
Mid Scotland and Fife	10 January 2005	Keith Raffan		Liberal Democrat	Andrew Arbuckle		Liberal Democrat	Resignation (health)
1999 - 2003 Parliamentary term
Region	Date	Incumbent	Party		Replacement	Party		Cause
Mid Scotland and Fife	14 August 2001	Nick Johnston		Conservative	Murdo Fraser		Conservative	Resignation (ill health)

See also

• Elections in Scotland