Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour of being “obsessed” with internal party “drama” as she celebrated the Conservatives’ dramatic by-election victory in Aberdeen South. The Conservative leader challenged Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers to focus on crucial issues such as energy and national security instead.
Victory Rally in Aberdeen
Speaking at a victory rally in Aberdeen on Friday, Mrs Badenoch said the win “sent a message” in favour of more drilling in the North Sea. She called for the controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank developments to be given the go-ahead, arguing that the UK needs to “drill our own oil in the North Sea, not take oil from Russia”.
Criticism of Labour
Hitting out at the under-fire Prime Minister, she said: “We have seen a Government and a Labour Party that is so obsessed about their own party drama that they are not interested in the cost of living, they are not interested in what is happening to people all across this country, what is impacting their lives.”
Mrs Badenoch’s visit to Aberdeen came after Conservative candidate Douglas Lumsden won the seat with 14,308 votes, easily defeating the SNP’s Richard Thomson, who secured 8,258 votes. The by-election was triggered after former SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn switched to Holyrood, winning a seat there in the Scottish Parliament election in May.
Referendum on Oil and Gas
The Tories focused their campaign on the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry, making the by-election a “referendum” on the issue. Mrs Badenoch said: “What this means is that we have won that referendum on oil and gas. Aberdeen has sent a message to the Labour Government and to the SNP that we will not be ignored.”
Stressing the importance of energy security to national security, she attacked Labour for its opposition to new oil developments. “What is happening right now as we kill the oil and gas sector is we are killing our energy security,” she said.
Call for New Projects
Urging the Government to back new oil and gas projects, she said: “It is time to lift the ban… let Jackdaw and Rosebank drill, and provide energy and security to this country and to homes all across the UK.”
Highlighting her party’s support for oil and gas, she contrasted the Aberdeen South contest with the Makerfield by-election also held on Thursday, which Andy Burnham won. She said while much of the focus had been on Makerfield, that contest “was about one man’s job”, while Aberdeen South was “about thousands of jobs all over the country, but especially in the oil and gas sector”.
Reactions from SNP
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney said he was “very disappointed” his party had lost the seat, adding: “Tactical voting has had a real impact on the result.” Defeated SNP candidate Richard Thomson said the Tories had “thrown the kitchen sink” at the campaign, with Mrs Badenoch making a number of visits to the area.
The guilty plea of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell did not “make a bit of difference” to the party’s fortunes, Mr Thomson added. “If anybody raised it, it was usually an indication that they weren’t voting SNP anyway,” he said.
The SNP did hold Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with Lara Bird taking the seat vacated by Stephen Gethins. Ms Bird won 9,802 votes, with Reform’s Bill Reid second with 4,841. Speaking to the Press Association, Ms Bird said: “It was obviously the Tories’ night up in Aberdeen this evening, and obviously that’s a disappointing result for us.”
