WHEN you are elected as an MP, you usually expect to have a seat secured at Westminster for five years.

But last week saw SNP pair Gavin Newlands and Mhairi Black having to fight for their places for the third time in just over four years as another General Election took place.

The party achieved a landslide victory across Scotland in 2015 but, when a snap election was called two years later, things were not so easy.

HOW IT HAPPENED: SNP hold both Renfrewshire seats

The Nationalists lost a considerable amount of influence across Scotland as the Conservatives experienced a resurgence, with Ms Black and Mr Newlands seeing their majorities drop dramatically, although they did retain their seats.

 

But in the early hours of Friday morning, it was revealed by returning officer Sandra Black that the Renfrewshire public had backed them once again – and, this time, the victory for both was more than comfortable.

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As Labour slumped to their worst-ever performance in Renfrewshire in terms of vote share, Mr Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, enjoyed an increased majority on 2015 of almost 12,000 votes.

Meanwhile, Ms Black breathed a sigh of relief after a close-fought encounter with Labour’s Alison Dowling in 2017. 

She sailed home this time with more than 50 per cent of the vote and a majority of more than 10,000. Mr Newlands, who received 23,353 votes, said the result was “mind-blowing.”

He added: “I am overwhelmed. I didn’t think it was possible to have a bigger majority than we did in 2015.

“I would have been happy with a majority of one vote, so to have won with a majority like we have is mind-blowing.”

After thanking his campaign team, family and voters for putting faith in him once again, Mr Newlands vowed to remain “the most accessible MP” in Scotland.

But, while delighted with victory on a successful night as a whole for his party, he admitted he was worried for the future of the country under a majority Tory government.

He said: “What I’ve tried to do throughout my four years is to be the most accessible MP in Scotland.

“A lot of the day-to-day things people expect in public services are devolved, so really the most important thing is helping constituents with case work, which is why I hold 13 surgeries a month. I said during the campaign we would continue that work and we absolutely will.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we will have to go through Brexit now – and a hard form of Brexit if Boris Johnson gets the deal he proposed previously, which concerns me hugely. 

“Brexit in itself is bad enough but this is not far off a ‘no deal.’ 

“The fact Boris Johnson has said he will not extend the transition period means his government will now only have 12 months to cobble together a trade deal with the rest of the EU. 

“That’s untenable and it must be extended – and it’s up to myself and others to try to make that happen.” 

Meanwhile, Ms Black, who almost doubled her majority from 2015, said people in Renfrewshire have become frustrated with Westminster politics.

 

She added: “I think, over the last six weeks, there’s definitely been a palpable anger at Westminster and people wanting to make a point of saying we can’t be treated like this and we want to change how things are going. When you look at it like that, the result isn’t all that surprising – but it’s easy to say that on the other side of the result.”

The Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP also pledged to represent everyone in her constituency, no matter who they voted for.

Ms Black, who received 21,637 votes, added: “We want to continue the work that we have been doing. The main big things are anti-austerity, anti-Brexit and anti-Tory.

“I also think there’s a real need to make sure Scotland has a chance to choose its own future, separate from Brexit.

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“One thing we do always say is, regardless of what political beliefs folks have, or whether they voted or not, if they come to us with an issue, we will do everything we can to help.”

At the start of election night, there was controversy as a police investigation was launched in the Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency after someone turned up at a polling station to cast their vote, only to find it had already been cast.

However, police have since established there was no criminality involved.

Read all the latest from Renfrewshire and beyond