Aberdeen voters sent a clear message to Westminster and Holyrood this week, handing the Conservatives their first gain in a Scottish Westminster by-election since 1967 and returning a candidate who has pledged to put the future of the oil and gas industry at the heart of his agenda. Douglas Lumsden, the Conservative candidate, secured the Aberdeen South seat from the Scottish National Party with a majority of more than 6,000 votes, a result that party leader Kemi Badenoch described as “seismic.”
The message, according to the Conservative campaign, was unambiguous: Aberdeen will not be ignored on the future of its defining industry. The by-election was fought almost entirely on the question of oil and gas, with Aberdeen long dubbed the “energy capital of Europe.” Badenoch, who visited the city three times during the campaign, framed the contest as a “referendum on oil and gas” and argued that “energy security is national security.” She insisted that “it is common sense to use our own oil and gas rather than importing it from overseas.”
Perhaps the most telling sign of the scale of the shift came from the voters themselves. Lumsden’s campaign highlighted that a significant number of those who backed the Conservatives on the day were doing so for the first time. The party’s message on oil and gas, aimed directly at protecting jobs and the local economy, appears to have cut through with voters who had previously supported other parties. The result suggests a realignment of trust that extends beyond the traditional Conservative base in the city.
Lumsden, who is also a Scottish Conservative MSP for North East Scotland, will now leave the Scottish Parliament after winning the Westminster seat. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent SNP MP, Stephen Flynn, who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2026. Under the current law, individuals cannot hold seats in both the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons simultaneously.
The Conservative victory represents a remarkable turnaround for the party in Scotland, which had endured a difficult period following the 2024 general election, when Douglas Ross lost his Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat. Lumsden’s win gives the Conservatives a fresh foothold in a city that has swung between parties in recent decades: Aberdeen South has been held by the Liberals, the Conservatives, Labour and the SNP at various points since the 1990s. The Conservatives last held the seat in 2017 before losing it to the SNP in 2019.
For the SNP, the result was a damaging blow. The party’s vote share in Aberdeen South collapsed from 15,213 in the 2024 general election to just 8,258 in this by-election. Some analysts have pointed to the ongoing embezzlement scandal involving the party’s former chief executive, Peter Murrell, as a factor that may have eroded trust among voters. Labour, which had surged in the 2024 general election, also saw its vote share fall sharply in Aberdeen South, dropping to fourth place.
The by-election took place on the same day as other contests across the UK, including in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, where the SNP held the seat with candidate Lara Bird, and in Makerfield, where Labour’s Andy Burnham was elected. The turnout in Aberdeen South was 38.08%.
Speaking after the result, the Conservative campaign made clear that the party’s commitment to Aberdeen was just beginning. “We know that you have put your trust in us, and we know that it wasn’t just Conservative voters who supported us. There were many people who voted Conservative for the first time. Many people liked what Douglas had to say, and I want you to know that we will never stop fighting for you. We will never stop fighting for oil and gas. We will never stop fighting for your jobs, for your families, for your city. Thank you, Aberdeen, for putting your trust in us.”
