After finding out that she had come second on the ballot to the SNP’s Kate Campbell, who took 14,083 votes compared to Mrs Sangster’s 9,097, she said she had begun to “process the defeat” before finding out that it looked likely she would in fact be elected on the regional list for Edinburgh and Lothians East.
She told the Courier: “It was such a rollercoaster day.
“We were gutted not to win, and it’s not just you when you lose, it is the disappointment of a fantastic, energetic young team around you.
“And the kids were upset, which was awful, but we had a thank you party and I was actually processing it totally fine, and moving on to what I was going to do next, when I got the call to go to Edinburgh.”
Mrs Sangster, who was ranked second on Labour’s list for the region behind Irshad Ahmed, said that her election on the list “came from out of the blue”.
Chris Murray MP celebrated with Mrs Sangster after her election had been declared (Image: Katherine Sangster)
Having “lost all sense of time”, a phone call from a party colleague in the early evening meant she swiftly left her own celebration party and “piled into the car” for the list result, which was not announced until about 8pm.
She added: “The kids stayed at the party and cheered me on on the telly.
“It had a very much end-of-night feel to it, with people packing up tables while we were waiting for the result, then back to my friend’s house to continue a big, big celebration.”
Mrs Sangster, formerly head of office for Chris Murray, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP, says the drama of election day has quickly given way to the “very practical business” of setting up an office during her first days as an MSP.
She added that the focus now was on “getting up and running quickly”, so she could begin work on the issues raised on “thousands of doorsteps” during the campaign.
Mrs Sangster said she “won’t shy away from engaging in democracy and having those hard conversations” and thanked a number of MSPs and former MPs “for their incredible support and interesting insights” so far.
She promised to “get stuck in” and was eager to build strong working relationships with her political colleagues across the region, with her mind focused on helping the areas she fought for in the constituency battle, “particularly Tranent”.
She added: “It’s really exciting and, with local elections next year, it just never ends.
“I just don’t think anyone can win an election and sort of just bed down and think, ‘I’m in a safe seat’ – it just doesn’t work like that anymore.”
Mrs Sangster was one of two defeated candidates in the Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent seat who were ultimately elected as list MSPs.
The other was Angela Ross, who finished third in the constituency ballot but became an MSP after her party, Reform UK, gained one on the regional list – she had been ranked as her party’s number one candidate there.