Galbraith resigned his seat in 2001 but McLeod did not stand in the subsequent by-election as this would have meant resigning her seat. However she did contest the seat in the 2003 election but finished fourth, behind Jean Turner (an independent), Brian Fitzpatrick (who had won the by-election) and Jo Swinson (who would later become MP for part of the seat). She also only placed 7th on the SNP list for West of Scotland and so also lost her top-up place in parliament.