Hamilton by-election: When does voting open? Who are the candidates? SNP, Labour, Reform

But parties are still battling it out to see if it is their candidate that will win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.

With less than a year to go until the 2026 Scottish Parliament election as well, all eyes are on Thursday’s by-election to see if the result can give an indication of which parties can switch theoretical polling into real, hard votes at the ballot box.

The Scotsman takes a look at what you need to know about the by-election.

Why is there a by-election?

This by-election is taking place following the death of former SNP minister Christina McKelvie on March 27 from breast cancer.

The SNP politician had represented Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse since 2011 and prior to that had represented the Central Scotland region since 2007.

When is the by-election? When do the polls open?

Thursday, June 5. The polls will be open from 7am until 10pm.

Who can vote?

Anyone over the age of 16 who registered to vote in time - the deadline was May 19 - can vote in this by-election. Those who were already on the South Lanarkshire electoral register did not need to register again.

Postal votes must be with the returning officer by 10pm on polling day. Those who think their postal vote will not arrive in time can hand the vote into any polling station.

Do voters need to show ID?

No - unlike last year’s general election, voters do not need to show ID at the polling station.

What voting system is used?

All constituency seats in Holyrood are voted on using the first-past-the-post-system. Each voter will be asked to put one ‘X’ against the candidate they want to win.

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Who can I vote for?

By-elections often attract a large number of candidates, and this one is no different - no less than ten candidates have put themselves forward.

• Collette Bradley, Scottish Socialists: Ms Bradley, 46, has two daughters and two grandsons and works as a support staffer for further education colleges in Lanarkshire. The trade unionist is originally from Rutherglen and says she will remain on the average worker’s salary rather than taking an MSP wage if she wins.
• Andy Brady, Scottish Family Party: Originally from Uddingston, Mr Brady is a father of four and said he believes his experience of being a child during his parents’ divorce has instilled the importance of a strong family unit to help build strong lives.
• Ross Lambie, Reform UK: Mr Lambie grew up in a South Lanarkshire mining village and worked in London as an architect before moving back to the area. He was a Conservative councillor before defecting to Reform. In recent days, he has been forced to defend his party’s adverts targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which have been branded “racist” and “poisonous”.
• Katy Loudon, SNP: Ms Loudon, 45, has lived in South Lanarkshire since 2009 and has been a councillor for the area since 2017. The mother-of-two was a teacher before entering politics, and was the SNP’s candidate in the 2023 Rutherglen by-election.
• Janice MacKay, UKIP: Ms MacKay, 63, lives in South Lanarkshire and before retiring worked in financial services and the retail industry. The grandmother-of-two says she will give 40 per cent of her salary to veterans’ charities if she wins.
• Ann McGuinness, Scottish Greens: Ms McGuinness is a mother-of-two who has lived experience of poverty and disability. She is also the director of a charity promoting rural connections and diversity.
• Aisha Mir, Scottish Lib Dems: Ms Mir was raised in Edinburgh to immigrant parents and was the first in her family to go to university. She has been an unpaid carer for a number of years and is the party’s human rights and older people spokeswoman.
• Richard Nelson, Scottish Conservatives: Mr Nelson has been a councillor for Larkhall since 2017 and before entering politics worked in NHS forensic mental health. During the campaign, the trade unionist has been criticised for being a member of the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry.
• Davy Russell, Scottish Labour: Mr Russell, 63, lives in the constituency and is the deputy lord lieutenant representing King Charles III. He previously worked in local government and during the campaign has been criticised for not taking part in hustings debates or interviews.
• Marc Wilkinson, Independent: Mr Wilkinson is a pizza shop owner from Edinburgh and established the Edinburgh People Party. He is now in the process of setting up the South Scotland People Party and hopes to establish regional parties across Scotland in time for the 2026 Holyrood election.

When will we know the results?

As soon as the polls close at 10pm, ballot papers will be transported directly to the South Lanarkshire Council headquarters in Hamilton to be counted.

But beyond that it is anyone’s guess. Hopefully if there is no recount, the result will be known at some point in the early hours of the morning on Friday, June 6.

When will the winner start work?

Pretty much straight away, which means we will see them in the Scottish Parliament the following week. They will be given an office to work from inside the Parliament building, and may be given a seat on a Holyrood committee as well.

The winner is also most likely going to become their party’s candidate for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election for this constituency.

How has the campaign gone?

By-elections are always high profile - and this year there has been a fair amount of controversies.

A lot of this campaign has focused on the rise of Reform UK, and on controversial adverts targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

The adverts, claiming Mr Sarwar would prioritise the Pakistani community if he were in charge, have been widely criticised as “racist”. However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage doubled down on the advertising campaign when he visited Scotland on Monday, claiming Mr Sarwar was fuelling “sectarianism” in Scottish politics.

Scottish Labour have not had the best of campaigns themselves. The party’s candidate Davy Russell has been criticised for repeatedly refusing to take part in hustings and broadcast interviews. In one broadcast interview with STV earlier this week, he sidestepped questioning on cuts to winter fuel payments 11 times.

The SNP’s candidate Katy Loudon is a South Lanarkshire councillor and opposition parties have been calling on her to apologise for some of the decisions made at local authority level in recent years.

The Scottish Conservatives’ candidate Richard Nelson has also been questioned on his views after it was revealed he is a member of the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry.

Who is likely to win?

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice has given his predictions for this by-election - it will be a close one.

He says the SNP are the favourites to win, but expects the victor to win with less than a third of the vote.

Mr Farage says he is confident Reform UK can come third in this by-election, but adds it would be a nice surprise if his party leapfrogged Scottish Labour into second place.