Labour are back says beaten Angela

Angela Feeney, left and Marion Fellows, right, await the result

She slashed the SNP majority of nearly 12,000 in Motherwell and Wishaw to just 318 to give Nationalist candidate Marion Fellows the fright of her life.

Labour also came close to regaining Airdrie and Shotts, Helen McFarlane falling 195 votes short of the SNP’s Neil Gray, while Hugh Gaffney snatched Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill from the SNP.

Mr Gaffney is one of six new Labour MPs in Scotland, adding to the party’s solitary MP from the last General Election.

Last month Angela Feeney was elected to North Lanarkshire Council for the Wishaw ward and her party defied expectations to remain in control of the authority, with Conservative support.

After the General Election result, Councillor Feeney said: “People thought Labour was dead, but we have shown we are very much alive and kicking. The fightback starts now.”

But Mrs Fellows insisted: “The SNP are still winning in Scotland.”

She added: “It’s a privilege to serve the people of Motherwell and Wishaw again. It’s a great community.”