Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan vows to push for new ferries to service islands

Alasdair Allan has retained the SNP's hold of the Western Isles. Picture by Western Isles News Agency
Alasdair Allan has retained the SNP's hold of the Western Isles. Picture by Western Isles News Agency

The newly confirmed Western Isles MSP has been told to “do something” about the ferry issues that were repeatedly raised on doorsteps during this election campaign.

Alasdair Allan held onto the SNP seat for the island, which has been repeatedly hit by a series of breakdowns in the CalMac fleet.

Mr Allan has held the seat since taking it from Labour in 2007, receiving 7,454 votes.

The former education secretary’s vote majority was cut by just 55 to 3,441. In 2011, it stood at 4,772.

The Conservatives increased their vote – the party’s best ever result in the isles.

https://www.facebook.com/AlasdairAllanSNP/posts/4105552432844293?__cft__[0]=AZUObIN6tZlno6CackRSckZYNSZAErYVJdF7aUnPtzOtjgorM8PzlWrWD_oscP4sLB5hBkstbk6sXNwqVMYRtoYWLsWY1N_qgUxaXu-g3_c96hH4vqS-DNCgIIVpsopHJ-fIbxsPExAjDKFH2ZK7nwBwfGjA6KrgRpolwPOogPtVEg&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Vow for more ferries push

After the result, he said the biggest issue he found among voters was the state of the islands’ ferries.

“I did manage to get out on the doorstep in the last two weeks when the restrictions allowed,” he said. “There’s no getting away from the fact that the ferries were the biggest issue and that CalMac at times does not have enough vessels in service on the routes.

“CalMac needs more ships built and these things have to be fully funded. I will continue to raise that with ministers as I have done in the past.”

Ferry failures was a big campaign issue. Picture: Allan Milligan

To loud applause, Lib Dem candidate Neil Mitchison said he had never known so much “anger and despair” on the islands over the ferries.

Turning to Mr Allan, he said: “Do something about it.”

Runner-up Labour’s Shaun Fraser said the issues facing the Western Isles were “many” as he wished the newly-elected MSP well in tackling them.

The total electorate of 130-mile island chain is around 22,000 and nearly a third applied to vote by post. Turn-out was up 5% to more than 66%.

Ballot boxes from Barra, Vatersay, Eriskay and the Uists were carried by boat and road to the central count in Stornoway instead of being flown, like they usually are for an overnight count.

Meanwhile Britain’s remotest voters on St Kilda – 112 miles off the north-west Scottish mainland – were given postal votes.

  • Results: Alasdair Allan (SNP) 7,454; Shaun Fraser (Labour), 4,013; Gavin Berkenheger (Scottish Conservatives), 2,116; Callum Iain Macmillan (Time for Change), 571; Neil Mitchison (Scottish Lib Dems), 353.