By Indybag.
So, the dust has settled on the Bearsden South by-election, and we’ve got the usual suspects patting themselves on the back while the rest of us stare at the numbers wondering how much longer the status quo can hold.
Bearsden reform disaster
The Liberal Democrats took it at Stage 5, which isn’t exactly a shocker for a postcode that prioritizes property prices over progress. Apparently, they’d already hoovered up a quarter of their quota in postal ballots before the first person even stepped into a polling station. It’s the professional-managerial class doing what it does best: securing the suburban fort.
The Independence Front: A Respectable Holding Action
Let’s get one thing straight: Bearsden South is hardly a “red-wall” scheme or a hotbed of radical independence. It’s a ward where the SNP traditionally has to fight for every scrap of ground. Taking 17.2% and holding second place is a respectable result for them in this terrain.
Crucially, they kept ahead of Reform UK. If that Farage-lite circus had managed to clinch second, the Unionist press would have been spinning like a silkworm on cocaine. They’d have you believe the “nationalist” project is dead and buried, ignoring the reality that a by-election in a Tory-Lib Dem heartland isn’t exactly a bellwether for the whole of Scotland.
The Reform Bubble and the Protest Vote
A lot of folk are acting shocked at the 15.5% for Reform. On paper, it’s not their target demographic. You don’t usually find their core support in the leafy avenues of East Dunbartonshire. But this is a by-election—the natural habitat of the protest vote.
Reform haven’t got the lead in Scotland they’re desperate for. Their support is shallow, built on a foundation of “anti-everything” sentiment rather than actual grassroots organizing. There are plenty of scenarios where they’ll do absolutely rubbish in the Scottish elections later this year once people realize they’re just Tories in louder ties.
The Unionist Roadblock
As for Labour, at 14.2%, they’re still just the “Better Together” backup dancers. They aren’t offering a socialist alternative; they’re offering a slightly more polite version of the Westminster rot. We need to stop looking to these hollow hierarchies for salvation.
Remember what I daid before. Join the fightback against the fash.
How to Get Involved
Don’t wait for a ballot box to change your life. The real power is horizontal, not electoral.
- Join a Community Union: If you’re worried about the cost of living or local services, look into Living Rent or local housing groups. That’s where the actual class struggle happens—not in a council chamber in Kirkintilloch.
- Reclaim the Trades Councils: We need to get back to the basics of labor organizing. Check in with your local Trades Council and see how you can support workers on the front lines.
- Build the Congress of the Left: Instead of rushing to join a “vanguard” party. Focus on networking hubs that allow for genuine, feminist-informed, decentralized cooperation.
Indybag uses AI for help with punctuation. Indybag image ai generated.
