Last week saw a decent result for the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in the Dundee council Maryfield ward by-election, held on Thursday 31st March.

The seat was retained by the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, who polled 1,383 votes, a 49.5% share. This was well ahead of Labour whose vote fell from 1,251 (36%) in the 2012 council elections, the last time the seat was contested, to 634 this time (22.7%).

The TUSC candidate, Stuart Fairweather, won 142 votes (5.1%), coming in fourth ahead of the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP, all of whom have a higher profile in the establishment media than TUSC.

What was also significant about the election was the preference choices that were made, which voters have in Scottish council elections as they are conducted under the single-transferable vote PR system. TUSC was in third place amongst those who cast a second preference vote, with 14.7%, just 4% behind Labour.

This shows the underlining support that exists for a 100% anti-austerity and socialist alternative to the SNP in the city and bodes well, in particular, for the local council elections in 2017.

Dundee city council, Maryfield ward by-election, March 31st:

Scottish National Party 1,383; Labour 634; Conservative 294; TUSC 142 (5.1%); Green 116; Liberal Democrat 85; Independent 73; UKIP 69