Mrs Badenoch says north-east Reform voters ‘tell her they regret decision after SNP’s victory in Aberdeen’
The Tory leader was in Aberdeen on Friday alongside her Scottish counterpart Russell Findlay and Aberdeen South candidate Douglas Lumsden, ahead of the crunch by-election next month.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claims remorseful Reform voters in Aberdeen have told her they now rue their decision after the SNP’s victory at the Holyrood elections.
In an exclusive interview with The Press and Journal, the party boss reiterated arguments that it was Nigel Farage’s party which cost the Conservatives victory in the Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine seat two weeks ago.
SNP top dog Stephen Flynn defeated Tory rival Liam Kerr by 1,244 votes at the Holyrood elections, while Reform’s Duncan Massey scooped thousands of ballots.
The Tory leader was in Aberdeen on Friday alongside her Scottish counterpart Russell Findlay and Aberdeen South candidate Douglas Lumsden, ahead of the crunch by-election for Mr Flynn’s vacated Westminster seat next month.
On a tour around the Uniconn oil field equipment firm’s site in Altens, she also slammed the Scottish Government’s energy stance – chiding that the party “thinks the economy is fuelled on pixie dust”.
However, the SNP’s by-election candidate has hit back – accusing the Conservatives of triggering the crisis in the industry by introducing the windfall tax.
Tory leader: ‘Reform cost us north-east seat at Holyrood election’
The crucial seat covering the south of the city will be decided next month, after Stephen Flynn stepped down to take up a new role in Holyrood.
The Tories have put forward Douglas Lumsden, who was elected to the Scottish Parliament but U-turned just a few days later.
He said he felt compelled to over fears regarding the direction of the oil and gas industry.
The events of two weeks ago, where the Tories missed out on a major SNP scalp by just over 1,200 votes as Reform picked up 6,000, remain fresh in her mind.
And Mrs Badenoch argues the party “could have won that seat if Reform hadn’t split the vote”.
She told The P&J: “We’ve been out campaigning and we’ve heard from people who supported Reform, who now regret it because it let the SNP in.
“So, people know now that we were the ones who were just behind the SNP.
“But I think we’ve got an amazing candidate in Douglas Lumsden. He knows this city inside out, he cares about it.
“And I think that’s going to matter to people who are looking for where to place their vote.”
What did she make of cabinet title reshuffle?
The issue of energy has again dominated political debate this week.
On Tuesday, Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin had her title changed from Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy to just Minister for Climate Action.
Energy matters now lie with Dundee City East MSP Stephen Gethins.
And Mrs Badenoch claims the move showed the Nationalists “don’t understand energy”.
She added: “I think they (SNP) think the economy is fuelled on pixie dust. They don’t understand energy. They think it’s just there.
“This is madness. This is a religion now, this attitude to oil and gas. There is no rationality or reason to it.
“They’re just worshipping at the altar of killing the oil and gas industry, both the SNP and Labour.
“We are taking oil from Russia, paying them money that will be used to attack Ukraine, while we’re sanctioning Aberdeen oil.”
Earlier this week, Keir Starmer came under fire for relaxing sanctions to import jet fuel and diesel refined from Russian crude in countries including India and Turkey.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay today echoed the concerns around what the cabinet minister’s title change signifies.
He told The P&J that the move “speaks volumes”, adding: “I think it’s revealing and it’s concerning. I think people in the north-east know the importance of oil and gas to not just the local economy but to powering our country.
“They’ll see this as another example of the SNP turning its back on the oil and gas industry.”
Aberdeen energy firm boss lifts lid on industry impacts to Kemi Badenoch
During her tour around the Altens industrial site, the leader of the opposition at the House of Commons heard firsthand how Aberdeen firms are struggling.
Mrs Badenoch said that she had been speaking to the managing director of Uniconn, John Lawson, and relayed how he was now “doing more business with Scandinavia than at home”.
The Tory boss explained: “John was telling me that the products that he’s now servicing, he’s servicing for Norway because they don’t exist here any more.
“In companies like this one, which are smaller and in the supply chain, there are 21 people working here. There used to be about 30.
“Everybody here works in Aberdeen. Jobs are being lost because of this attack on the oil and gas sector.”
What does the SNP say about this?
Douglas Lumsden’s main challenger in next month’s by-election is the SNP, who have gone with former Gordon MP Richard Thomson as their candidate.
Hitting back at Mrs Badenoch’s remarks, he told The P&J that the comments over the cabinet post were “the height of hypocrisy which no-one in Aberdeen should be taken in by”.
Mr Thomson added: “In government, the Tories gave us a merry-go-round of Energy Ministers who only had one thing in common, and that was to continue siphoning off billions from Scotland’s oil and gas sector.
“In contrast, the SNP has created a new role within our newly formed government with the Energy Minister reporting directly to the First Minister.
“No-one should forget that it was the last Tory government in which Kemi Badenoch was a minister which introduced the disastrous Energy Profits Levy, and created the cliff-edge for the North Sea which Labour now want to push us off.
“Only the SNP is on the side of our energy sector and we are the only party who want the rich resource of the North Sea used to be under the control and working for the benefit of the Scottish people – that’s what’s on the ballot in a few weeks’ time.”
Reform: ‘This is no two horse race’
Meanwhile, Reform candidate Jo Hart warned the Tories were “making a mistake” by thinking her party were only taking votes from the Conservatives.
She said: “On the doorsteps, we are taking cross-party votes. It’s not just ex-Tory supporters. It’s a mistake for them to be complacent.
“We are speaking to people from the SNP and Labour who say they are going to vote Reform for the first time because they are disillusioned and they want change.
“We need to change this rhetoric… People have had enough.”
[Source: Press and Journal]
