Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed that people in Aberdeen have pleaded with her to “save the city” during a visit to an oil and gas firm on Friday. She was accompanied by Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay and Douglas Lumsden, the MSP and Conservative candidate in the upcoming Aberdeen South Westminster by-election, scheduled for June 18.
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who became an MSP and Scottish Cabinet minister. The Tories are focusing their campaign on energy, emphasising support for the oil and gas sector, which is central to Aberdeen's economy but faces uncertainty as the UK shifts towards renewables.
Badenoch told the Press Association: “We have the best candidate, we have the best plan for Aberdeen, that is to get Britain drilling again. We need to support our oil and gas sector, there’s only one party that is speaking up for oil and gas, and that is the Conservative Party.” She added that on doorsteps, “people have asked me to save the city, they feel that Aberdeen is dying.”
During the visit to Oil States Industries, Badenoch highlighted that 75% of the equipment the firm sells is now exported, saying: “That shows our jobs are going abroad, we’re losing jobs, we’re losing expertise.” Despite the Tories' poor performance in the recent Scottish Parliament election, where they fell to 12 MSPs, Badenoch expressed full confidence in Findlay's leadership.
SNP candidate Richard Thomson criticised the Tory visit, stating: “The people of Aberdeen South deserve better than Westminster politicians coming up here not to say how they will support our industry, but how they will drain every penny out of it to finance the UK Treasury.” He argued that the Tories' tax on energy had cost thousands of jobs and that only the SNP would protect Scottish jobs and build an independent country.
