THE deputy leader of Scottish Borders Council has not been put off fighting for election again after defeat in the Lothian East constituency.

Jedburgh and District councillor Scott Hamilton (inset) has represented the ward since he was first elected in 2017.

He was selected as Conservative candidate for Lothian East and ended the evening in third place, attracting 5,535 votes, with the Labour candidate Douglas Alexander elected to Westminster with 23,555 votes.

Despite defeat, Mr Hamilton found the experience rewarding – and is prepared to do it again.

He said: “There’s an element of disappointment in the vote share we received but the national picture across the country fed in to Lothian East.

“I think from a personal experience people through there have been absolutely fantastic, they have been so welcoming from the members of the association, the volunteers and activists, all the way through to businesses and constituents.

“Nothing is ever lost if you get a good experience from it and have certainly learned quite a number of things from being a candidate through there, so it’s not a complete loss.

“Results elsewhere show that where MPs have been hard-working they have pulled off a result, you can see that with John Lamont increasing his share of the vote.”

“I might need to catch up on my sleep but this certainly hasn’t put me off putting myself through this again.”

The full results were: Douglas Alexander (Lab) - 23,555; Lyn Jardine, (SNP) - 10,290; Scott Hamilton, Cons) – 5,535; Robert Davies, (Ref UK) - 3,039; Duncan Dunlop (Lib Dem - 2,649); Shona McIntosh, (Green) - 2,477; George Kerevan (Alba) - 557.