Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election for Scottish Parliament seat to be held on 8 June

Ken Macintosh - Image credit: David N Anderson Photography

Scottish Parliament presiding officer Ken Mackintosh has set the date for the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election for the Scottish Parliament for 8 June – the same day as the general election.

Under Section 9 of the Scotland Act 1998, the date of the poll is fixed by the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament.  

Conservative MSP John Lamont announced last week that he will stand down from the Scottish Parliament seat on 4 May to fight the same seat in the general election.

This timing means Lamont will not be able to re-stand for the seat in the Scottish Parliament should he fail to win the Westminster seat in the general election.

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The Westminster seat is the most marginal in Scotland, with SNP MP Calum Kerr winning the seat by only 328 votes more than the Conservatives in 2015.

Announcing his resignation last week, Lamont said: “It has been a great privilege to serve the people of the Borders in the Scottish Parliament for the last 10 years.

"During that time, I have worked as hard as I could to represent every community, no matter how small.

"I have held over 1,000 local advice surgeries and assisted tens of thousands of local residents with problems and cases. I have always put local people before party politics.

“I want to continue that service to the Borders as a member of parliament and my approach to this important job will be exactly the same as it has been.

“This is one of the most important general elections Scotland has ever had.

"In the Borders, it will be straight fight between myself and the SNP.

"I have decided to stand down as an MSP to allow me to focus all of my energy on this important contest and to ensure that the electorate have a clear choice between the two contenders."