Labour rejects call to back SNP candidate to unseat Tory leader

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has rejected a call for his party and its supporters to back the SNP in a seat in the north east of Scotland to beat Douglas Ross.

Outgoing Scottish Conservative leader Mr Ross is running in the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency in the stead of former Tory MP David Duguid – who was barred by party bosses over ill health.

Labour’s candidate in the constituency, Andy Brown, has been suspended by the party and had his support stripped following reports of controversial social media posts – which he denies making.

With Labour now not backing a candidate in the seat, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn had urged Mr Sarwar to back the nationalists’ Seamus Logan to defeat Mr Ross.

The reason why so many people are moving away from both the Tories and the SNP is because they look at two governments that have utterly failed the people of Scotland

But Mr Sarwar rejected the call just hours after it was made.

“I am the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, I want people to vote Scottish Labour,” he said during a visit to Inverclyde on Tuesday.

“Scottish Labour is invested in every part of the country, so if you want to get rid of the Tories , if you want Scottish Labour representation, if you want Scotland to be at the heart of a Labour government, then you need to vote Scottish Labour – and that’s what I’m calling on people to do.”

He said the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat is a “specific issue” due to the suspension of Mr Brown, and he said his “only regret” is that voters there do not have the chance to support his party.

Mr Sarwar said Mr Flynn and the SNP view Scotland as “one big tactical block”.

He added: “(They believe) somehow Scots don’t have an opinion of their own or Scots don’t have a view of their own, or Scots haven’t lived the consequences of 14 years of the Tories or 17 years of the SNP.

“The reason why so many people are moving away from both the Tories and the SNP is because they look at two governments that have utterly failed the people of Scotland.”

Mr Sarwar later told the PA news agency he would “let (the SNP) play the protest here”.

In his letter to Mr Sarwar earlier on Tuesday, Mr Flynn said: “In the vast majority of these Tory-held seats, I fully understand that you will, regardless of the electoral facts, urge people to vote for your party.

“However, in one of these seats, Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, your party is not fielding a candidate.

“I am therefore calling on you to back an SNP vote in this constituency, and for you to request that your supporters, and local party members, back the SNP candidate to ensure that we defeat the Tories in this crucial seat.

“This seat is particularly totemic, given that it is the seat that Douglas Ross has shamefully forced himself into as a candidate.

“Already forced into announcing his resignation as Scottish Tory leader, I am sure that you will agree with me that it is unthinkable that he could continue representing Scotland at Westminster.

“On July 4, we have the chance to defeat Douglas Ross in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East – but this will require each of us who wants to defeat the Tories to get behind the SNP.”

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said: “Pro-UK voters in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East know that only the Scottish Conservatives can beat the SNP and end their independence obsession for good.

“This seat will be extremely close, and a vote for any party other than the Scottish Conservatives – including Reform, Labour or the Liberal Democrats – just increases the chances of the SNP sneaking in by the back door.

“The same applies in key seats up and down Scotland where it’s a head-to-head between the Scottish Conservatives and the SNP.”