Robinson to try again in west by-election

A CANDIDATE who narrowly lost out on winning a seat in the council chamber in May is trying again in the upcoming Shetland West by-election.

Mark Robinson came third in the west ward by the finest of margins in May’s main council elections, coming second to John Leask.

Mark Robinson.

Mark Robinson.

But Leask has since resigned from his role due to outside work commitments, sparking a by-election.

If it is contested voters in the west ward will go to the polls on 17 November, with the count taking place the next day.

In May’s election seven candidates were in the running for the west ward’s two seats.

Liz Peterson was a comfortable winner with 298 first preference votes, with Leask receiving 135.

Robinson, who is the brother of Lerwick and Bressay councillor Gary Robinson, secured 128 first preference votes.

This meant the voting system took into account other preference votes, with Leask winning the second spot at a late stage.

Robinson said he was looking forward to getting out and about to speak with as many people as possible.

He said he decided to stand after some careful consideration.

“After I thought about it and went through the reasons why I stood last time, I realised the issues that mattered then is really still the same things that matters now,” Robinson said.

During May’s election investment in the west including roads, education and care services were among the topics on his agenda.

While he understands the reasons behind Leask’s resignation, Robinson said in some ways he was disappointed how things have panned out in the ward. “If I’d gone in in May, I’d probably have stood a good chance to have made inroads into the things that I think need to be done by now,” he said.

“Whereas now we’re half way through year and I would be starting from scratch.”

Meanwhile people have until 17 October to submit their nomination papers for the by-election. More information can be found here.