Avondale and Stonehouse
South Lanarkshire Council ward covering Strathaven, Stonehouse and the surrounding area.
The SNP's Leigh Payne gained Avondale and Stonehouse from an Independent at a South Lanarkshire Council by-election on 17 September 2026, two days before Scottish Labour, runner-up in the ward, elected Michael Marra as leader.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Avondale and Stonehouse
Mentioned in: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decide
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Avondale and Stonehouse is a ward of South Lanarkshire Council covering Strathaven, Stonehouse and the surrounding area. Like every Scottish council ward, it elects its members by the single transferable vote.
The seat fell vacant on the death of Margaret Cooper, Provost of South Lanarkshire, WHO had held it as an Independent since May 2022. At the by-election in September 2026 the SNP took it, with Leigh Payne elected.
The result came in the same month as two SNP defeats in Edinburgh, at Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar, so the ward gave the party a gain to set against those losses. Reform UK's 19.6%, close behind Labour, showed that party competing in central Scotland's council wards.
The ward swings to the SNP
On 17 September 2026 the SNP led the ward's first count on 27.6%, from Labour on 20.0% and Reform UK on 19.6%; no other party reached 11%. The SNP candidate, Leigh Payne, took the seat from an independent.
Under the single transferable vote, lower preferences can reorder a close field, but a first-count lead of more than seven points proved enough here. Labour's second place came days before the party chose a new Scottish leader, and Reform finished barely behind it, leaving three parties each drawing about a fifth of the ward's vote or more.