2026 Aberdeen South by-election
UK parliamentary by-election
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Aberdeen South was held on 18 June 2026 following the resignation of Stephen Flynn, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Scottish National Party (SNP), upon being elected to the Scottish Parliament. It was won by Conservative candidate Douglas Lumsden in the party's first gain at a Scottish by-election since 1967, and the first time ever, in the UK party's history, that it had won any parliamentary by-election from third place.
Flynn resigned after having been elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election on 7 May; the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 prohibits individuals from serving simultaneously as an MP and an MSP.
The vote was one of three Westminster by-elections taking place on the same day; the others being in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry and in Makerfield.
Background
The by-election occurred on the same day as UK parliamentary by-elections in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry and in Makerfield. In accordance with the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, which bars individuals from simultaneously holding both Holyrood and Westminster seats, Flynn resigned his House of Commons position on 14 May 2026.
Aberdeen South was first contested at the 1885 general election. It contains southern areas in the city of Aberdeen, including the wards of George Street/Harbour, Lower Deeside, Hazlehead/Queens Cross/Countesswells, Airyhall/Broomhill/Garthdee, Torry/Ferryhill and Kincorth/Nigg/Cove.
The constituency's inhabitants are 86% ethnically White, with 67% categorised as social grades A, B and C1. The average household income is £35,675, below the average for Great Britain as a whole but above that for Scotland, and the home-ownership rate is 59%, lower than both the Scotland and Great Britain averages. In the 2016 membership referendum, in which the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU), 66% of those who voted in Aberdeen South favoured remaining in the EU.
Historically, Aberdeen South has been won by the Liberal, the Conservative and Unionist and the Labour parties.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “2026 Aberdeen South by-election” is uK parliamentary by-election. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Aberdeen, South and by-election, not as a finished interpretation.
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