Civil war has erupted within the SNP after Cabinet Secretary Stephen Flynn was blamed for a stunning by-election defeat to the Conservatives. The Nationalists lost Aberdeen South by over 6,000 votes, with Conservative Douglas Lumsden defeating SNP candidate Richard Thomson.
The snap election was triggered when Flynn, the party's former Westminster leader, stood down from the seat after being elected to Holyrood on May 7. Flynn is known to be frustrated at SNP leader John Swinney's cautious support for new drilling in the region's oil and gas industry.
In a pointed tweet after the humbling defeat, Flynn wrote: "A tough night in Aberdeen that some will need to reflect on, quite heavily. Commiserations to my good friend @thomsonrichardg - a great man and colleague. Congratulations to @DLumsden_MSP. I know he loves this city as much as I do, and I look forward to working with him."
However, Kate Higgins, a former SNP special adviser, hit back: "I do hope that 'some' includes you @StephenFlynnSNP - the by election was, after all, caused by your choices."
A source close to Flynn said the SNP's lukewarm position on new drilling in the North Sea was a major issue on the doorsteps.
Lumsden, who recorded the Scottish Tories' first by-election win since 1967, said: "I'm looking forward to getting down to Westminster and really banging the drum for Aberdeen and the oil and gas industry. Labour have got to take note – this is a seismic victory tonight and they have got to change course on oil and gas, they've got to change course on energy. We need to have new licences, we need to scrap the energy profits levy, we need to save those jobs."
Thomson said the Tories had "thrown the kitchen sink" at the campaign. "We like not to be out-campaigned, but on this occasion, I think, just the sheer amount of resources that we were up against made it difficult to get the result we'd hoped for," he said.
The SNP held Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with Lara Bird taking the seat vacated by Stephen Gethins, who, like Flynn, quit Westminster for Holyrood. Bird – a lawyer and SNP adviser – won 9,802 votes, with Reform's Bill Reid second with 4,841 votes.
