Labour hold Inverclyde

---

Labour has held on to Inverclyde although its majority has been halved.

Iain McKenzie took the seat with 15,118 votes over the SNP's Anne McLaughlin on 9,280. Labour's majority fell from 14,416 at the 2010 general election to 5,838.

The Conservatives came third with 2,784. Bur the Liberal Democrats polled just 627 votes.

The by election was held after the death of David Cairns.

Speaking after his victory McKenzie said: "With a result like this I think we can safely say the SNP bandwagon has ground to a halt. Labour won this election because we listened hard and took nothing for granted.

"This is the start of Labour's fightback and there will be a lot more listening to do over the coming months and years."

He added:"I'm proud that my community of Inverclyde has made an important step in Labour's mission to win back the trust of the people both here in Scotland and south of the border.

"Remember, only weeks ago the SNP came within 511 votes of winning here, but tonight the voters of Inverclyde have rejected them - this time giving myself and the Scottish Labour Party not a 500 majority, but over 5,000 of a majority."

The SNP's Inverclyde candidate Anne McLaughlin insisted the fight for independence will continue.

She said: "I've been fighting with the SNP for 23 years, I will never give up until we have independence and after we get independence we have a country to sort out."

McKenzie was the leader of Inverclyde Council since February 2011 and as local as they come.

Born in Greenock in 1959, he lived in a council house and went to Greenock High School before becoming an apprentice mechanic. He later studied electronics at James Watt College and went to work for IBM where he stayed for twenty-eight years, rising to become a procurement officer.

A local councillor since 2003, he was the council’s head of education, credited with bringing new schools to the area, and oversaw a big rebuilding and refurbishment programme. He was elected leader of the council unopposed, heading a coalition administration, after the failure of a major financial project and the resignation of the former leader. He is a board member of the social housing association River Clyde Homes.

After being chosen to fight the seat from a shortlist of five he first tried to ignore the SNP, but was soon challenging their candidate to back Labour’s call for a temporary cut in VAT.

He said his priority was to secure high-quality jobs for the area. He called for a tougher approach to crime, and campaigned against fuel price increases, calling on the Government for greater controls.

He is married with two grown-up children. He said his family were at an age when they didn’t want him to spend more time with them.