The upcoming byelection in Aberdeen South is being defined by a single issue: the future of North Sea oil and gas. The contest, which takes place on Thursday, is widely seen as a straight fight between the Scottish National Party and the Conservatives, with energy policy taking centre stage.
The Conservative candidate, Douglas Lumsden, is campaigning on a platform of maximising oil and gas extraction to protect jobs, increase revenues and improve energy security. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, making her third visit to the seat, argued that voting Tory would give the sector a “kiss of life”. The Tories hope to capitalise on tactical voting against the SNP, while attacking Reform UK for splitting the anti-SNP vote.
The SNP candidate, Richard Thomson, a former MP and council leader, is seeking to hold the seat for his party. He defended the SNP’s position, saying it supports new drilling only if licences pass climate compatibility tests. Thomson also accused the Conservatives of being “no friends to the oil and gas industry”, pointing to the energy profits levy and the loss of around 70,000 North Sea jobs under the Tory government.
Lumsden countered that the SNP had voted for the levy, which he claimed had now served its purpose. “Things have changed now. There is no windfall to tax,” he said. The debate unfolds against a backdrop of relative prosperity in the constituency, where average weekly wages are £802 compared to the Scottish average of £776, and child poverty stands at 7.8% against 12.3% for Scotland as a whole.
