LABOUR recorded a narrow win over their SNP rivals in the Gourock by-election – with just nine ‘first preference’ votes between the top two candidates.

After a month and a half of canvassing and campaigning, returning officer and Inverclyde Council chief executive Louise Long declared that Labour’s Ian Hellyer had been elected as Inverclyde West’s newest councillor at Greenock Town Hall yesterday.

The newly elected ward five representative told the Telegraph he was ‘delighted’ to have seen off opponents from the SNP, the Conservatives, the Alba Party and Reform UK to come out on top in Thursday’s poll.

Ian Hellyer was elected at the fifth stage of counting. (Image: George Munro) Mr Hellyer secured 932 'first preference' votes, with the SNP's Robert Kirkpatrick on 923, Ted Runciman for the Conservatives on 415, Alba Party candidate Chris McEleny on 239, and John Burleigh for Reform UK on 230.

Under the proportional voting system used in council elections, Mr Hellyer was elected at stage five of the counting process.

A total of 2,739 votes were cast, a turnout of 31.4 per cent.

Speaking to the Tele after the results were declared, Councillor Hellyer said he believed that his background in policing had helped him win over voters.

He said: “I look forward to working with the councillors in the Municipal Buildings and also with the community.

“I ran the campaign positively on what I’d done in public service, and I kept it within that.

“I didn’t have to venture into anything party political, I just kept telling people what I believed in and what I wanted to put forward.

“I think that resonated with the people of Gourock.

“I think I was honest with them [Gourock voters]. I’ve told them what I’ll do and what I’ve done in the past.

“I’ve worked at the coal face, and I can tell them that I’ll listen to what they say.”

Ian Hellyer replaces Martin McCluskey as Labour's councillor in the Inverclyde West ward. (Image: George Munro)

His win means Labour have held on to the council seat which was previously vacated by Labour’s Martin McCluskey earlier this year following his election as Inverclyde’s MP.

Labour now holds eight seats on Inverclyde Council, two more than their nearest rivals the SNP, whose tally was reduced from eight to six in recent months due to councillors Kirsty Law and Innes Nelson quitting the party.

Scottish Labour won nine Inverclyde seats in the 2022 council elections, but their total on paper is currently eight due to the suspension of council leader Stephen McCabe from the party.

Councillor Hellyer said he had a number of immediate priorities for Gourock, which included listening to locals about what improvements they would like to see made to the town.

He added: “First of all, I’m going to look at how we can get the face of Gourock back on the map again and make sure that Gourock’s getting its fair share of everything it’s entitled to.

“I’ll be listening to the people of Gourock as well and seeing what their priorities are and then working forward and catching up with that’s been done before.

“The local Inverclyde CLP [Constituency Labour Party] group has been fantastic.

“When you look at grassroots politics and how much they work towards, a lot of it is unseen, a lot of it is hard tread on the doors in bad weather, or cold weather, day or night.

“The work they put in is just fantastic.”

Despite the result not going the way of the SNP’s candidate Robert Kirkpatrick, the local businessman highlighted how close he had been to pipping his opponent on first preference votes and thanked his team for their support.

He said: “This is the first campaign I’ve run. Nobody knew me going into this, but I think the people of Gourock know me now.

Defeated SNP candidate Robert Kirkpatrick reacts to the result. (Image: George Munro) “We’re looking forward to the next campaign where I will hopefully earn their trust.

“It was very close. There was nine of a difference in first preference, which is closer than any campaign I can remember.

“Going forward I will continue to be positive. I will never be an attacking elected member.

“Stuart McMillan MSP was my campaign manager for the majority of the campaign, along with Councillor James Daisley. They gave me such great support and we’ve got a large team I wouldn’t change for anyone.

“I congratulate Ian on his campaign. I’m sure he’ll do a very good job.

"Being ex-police myself I can see where he’s going to benefit Gourock greatly.”