SNP celebrates 'exceptional' win in Aberdeen Donside by-election The SNP has hailed an "exceptional" Scottish Parliament by-election victory by holding on to Aberdeen Donside with a reduced majority. Winning in the city reflects well on the party approaching half way through its second term of government at Holyrood, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said. SNP candidate Mark McDonald kept the seat with almost 42% of the vote. But the share fell by 13% compared with the 2011 national election, which was won by the SNP's Brian Adam, who died in April. Labour saw its share increase by almost five per cent, leading to claims the seat is there for the taking at the next Holyrood election in 2016. Ms Sturgeon, speaking the morning after the poll, said: "For a government that is mid-term into our second term of government, this was an exceptional result and a fantastic victory. People responded positively to the SNP's record in government, our billion pounds of investment in Aberdeen's infrastructure, and of course Brian Adam's legacy. She dismissed Labour's challenge as a "powderpuff performance" and said: "The swing to Labour was just nine percent - a very poor result after six years in opposition." Mr McDonald, who stood down as a regional North East MSP to fight the contest, marked his first day as a constituency member with a pledge to challenge local council proposals to close two schools. "The people of Donside have spoken and Aberdeen City Council must listen," he said. He won the seat with 9814 votes compared with 7789 for Labour candidate Willie Young, who was the closest rival. The Liberal Democrats took third place with 1940 votes, leapfrogging the Conservatives who took 1791 votes. Ukip, which has no elected representation in Scotland, won 1128 votes and lost its deposit. First Minister Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, congratulated his candidate shortly after the victory was declared in the early hours. He said: "This is a very bad result for Labour. After six years of opposition, they show no sign of being anything more than an opposition party. I am also delighted that Ukip failed to retain their deposit. They have never saved a single deposit in Scotland, which once again demonstrates a clear divergence between Scottish and Westminster politics. Despite defeat in Aberdeen, Labour won two council by-elections, in Edinburgh and Fife, over the same night Anas Sarwar, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: "All over Scotland, the momentum is with Scottish Labour and in Edinburgh, Fife and Aberdeen we have been gaining support from the SNP. Alex Salmond's obsession with the referendum is costing him votes. This week was an important staging post on our road back and while we know we still have some way to go, we are delighted with the progress we are making. It is important that Scottish Labour has the confidence to take our message to every part of the country and ask for support. That is what we have been doing over the last few weeks and that is what we will continue to do. Tory candidate Ross Thomson suggested some of his vote went to Labour in an attempt to keep the SNP from winning. "Because our voters are such committed Unionists, that had an appeal for some of them," he said. Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said his party enjoyed a "triple boost." He said: "Our share of the vote was up by a third, our number of votes was up and we were up to third place. As one of only two parties who saw an increase in votes in the Donside by-election, this is a solid result for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The Scottish Green party contest the constituency for the first time, picking up 410 votes. Party co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP said: "We worked hard to take our message on green jobs and public infrastructure to the community. We look forward to growing our campaigning in the north-east in the months and years ahead. The other candidates were David MacDonald of the Scottish National Front (249 votes), Tom Morrow of the Scottish Christian Party (222 votes) and James Trolland of the Scottish Democratic Alliance (35 votes). A total of 23,396 votes were cast, putting the turnout at 38.8% The result means the SNP still has an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament with 65 of the 129 MSPs. Watch Mark McDonald's full speech on winning the Aberdeen Donside by-election