CHRISTINE Grahame says she is “absolutely thrilled” about increasing her majority in Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

Voters went to the polls on Thursday (May 6) for the Scottish Parliament election contest.

And today (Satuday, May 8) SNP candidate Ms Grahame was declared the winner at the count in Kelso.

The re-elected Ms Grahame received a total of 19,807 votes - up from 16,031 in 2016.

Her majority has risen from 5,868 to 6,826.

'Great that people turned out'

Following the declaration, Ms Grahame said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have increased my majority, even with a Green candidate standing.

“They took 2,000 votes and I actually thought my vote would go down, but I’ve managed to increase it.

“That, I hope, is vindication of the years I have represented this area, of the local campaign, of my campaign team and the national campaign team.

“It was a strange campaign. I had never met any of the candidates personally, except for Shona Haslam, until today.

“I wasn’t able to go door-knocking and kept very low key. There were no hustings, no atmosphere; but the great thing is, is that people turned out.

“Maybe we should do it this way every time, without the COVID.

“My priority now is getting back to my desk to deal with cases - cases that have to be continued and cases that I had to park, as I wasn’t allowed to do them during this period.

“Cases will be my priority. I am already activated. My parliamentary pass is live, so I can go back.

“Obviously, not this weekend. I might go and see my grandchildren as they have not seen me for ages.

“But on Monday, I’ll be back at my desk.”

Haslam 'enjoyed campaign'

Second place went to Scottish Conservative candidate Shona Haslam (12,981 votes).

Mrs Haslam, the leader of Scottish Borders Council leader, told this newspaper: “I am really pleased with the increase in the vote share.

“I think with the turnout being so high, it was always going to be difficult to call, so I am really pleased we have managed to increase our vote share here.

“I love campaigning, getting out and about to meet people and talking about the issues that are really important to people.

“I have really enjoyed this campaign.”

Asked if she had a message to her voters, she said: “I won’t let you down. I will be back.”

The turnout for the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency was 66 per cent (43,171 votes cast).

That is an increase on 2016, when it was at 59.1 per cent (35,581 votes cast).

RESULTS:

Christine Grahame (SNP) – 19,807
Shona Haslam (Scottish Conservatives) – 12,981
Katherine Sangster (Scottish Labour) – 5,410
AC May (Scottish Liberal Democrats) – 2,615
Dominic Ashmole (Scottish Greens) – 2,154
Michael James Banks (Vanguard Party) – 67