Labour’s Alison Taylor has said it was “clear” the people of Paisley and Renfrewshire North wanted change after she was elected to the UK Parliament.

The constituency’s new MP came out on top in a compelling contest after it was announced she had secured 19,561 votes in the early hours of Friday morning.

Taylor, a chartered surveyor, will replace the SNP’s Gavin Newlands, who had been the area’s MP since 2015 and achieved 13,228 votes.

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In the immediate aftermath of the result, she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m so delighted that people have put their trust in me.

“I’ve knocked on lots of doors, thousands of doors, even just in the last month, and it’s been clear from speaking to people that they have wanted change, that they haven’t been happy with the status quo.

“I’m just so delighted that they’re willing to put their trust in me to try and help bring about that change as being part of a Labour government and being able to influence decisions in Scotland as part of that.”

Taylor studied land economics at university in Paisley before becoming a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

She believes her 30 years of experience as a chartered surveyor will stand her in good stead as she prepares to head to Westminster.

“The main thing Labour is going to bring is an end to the chaos,” she added.

“It’s going to bring stability and from that, I’ve got a business background, so I think it’ll bring about economic growth. That’s what we need.

“We need economic growth, not only to create new jobs, but we need it to grow the economy, to get more money coming in for our public services so we can invest in them.”

Meanwhile, Newlands said it was “the greatest honour and privilege” of his life to have represented Paisley and Renfrewshire North for nine years.

He was in defiant mood as he vowed in his speech: “Mark my words, I’ll be back and the SNP will be back, because independence is the only solution to the problems that Scotland faces – problems largely of Westminster’s making.”

A total of 41,663 votes were cast in the constituency, it was confirmed at the overnight count at Lagoon Leisure Centre, representing a turnout of 58.8 per cent.