Nine candidates will contest next month's council by-election in the Avondale & Stonehouse ward of South Lanarkshire.
The local authority poll, scheduled for September 17, follows the death in June of long-serving councillor Margaret Cooper, who served as provost of South Lanarkshire and represented the area for 14 years.
Candidates on the ballot
The candidates appearing on the ballot paper are Ade Aibinu (Conservative), Gary Allan (Your Party), Andrew Forde (independent), David Glennie (Liberal Democrats), Michael Grant (Green), George Hobbins (Reform), Hannah Miller (Labour), Leigh Payne (SNP) and Ken Thomson (Alliance for Democracy and Freedom).
Voting will use the numerical-ranking single transferable vote system and will take place from 7am until 10pm at polling stations in Stonehouse, Auldhouse, Chapelton, Glassford, Gilmourton, Kirklandpark, Sandford and Wester Overton primaries, as well as at Avendale Old Parish Church's hall.
Counting and registration details
Ballot papers will be counted at South Lanarkshire Council's headquarters in Hamilton on the same evening after polls close at 10pm. The winning candidate will join existing councillors Elise Frame and Susan Kerr in representing the ward.
Eligible voters aged 16 or over must be registered to vote by midnight on Tuesday, September 1.
Background to the by-election
The by-election follows the death of Provost Cooper two months ago after a lengthy illness. She had represented Avondale & Stonehouse since 2012 and served for the past four years as South Lanarkshire's civic head.
Warm tributes were paid following her passing, with council colleagues calling her “an extraordinary leader” and “a real force of nature”, and she was praised for her “lifetime of public service” including raising more than £100,000 for local charities.
