Tory MSP Alexander Burnett has expressed his pride at the party retaining the Aberdeenshire West seat and dashing SNP hopes for a majority in the Scottish Parliament election.
Mr Burnett returns for another term at Holyrood with 19,709 votes while SNP candidate Fergus Mutch received 16,319 votes.
Also on the ballot were Labour’s Andrew Philip Brown (2,382 votes) and Rosemary Bruce of the Lib Dems (3,363).
Votes cast: Andrew Philip Brown (Scottish Labour Party) – 2,382 votes (5.69% share)Rosemary Bruce (Scottish Liberal Democrats) – 3,363 (8.03%)Alexander Burnett (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party) – 19,709 (47.05%)Fergus Mutch (Scottish National Party) – 16,319 (38.96%)
When asked about stopping the SNP majority, Mr Burnett said: “There were a few comments about that which I’d seen on social media – I tried to stay away from it most of last night to do my nerves some good.
Mr Burnett said it had been a difficult campaign and that his comfortable win felt pretty good .
He said: I think when you have worked for five years, you hope that people have seen you working hard.
Mr Burnett added: This was the only seat five years ago [in North East] which the SNP didn t win. They have targeted this seat and they have targeted myself for five years. It s not been the most pleasant of experiences, I can tell you that. But I felt constituents asked me five years ago to do a job because they didn t want a SNP win here. I was happy to do that and I am happy to stand up and do it again.
The event was arranged to illustrate the party’s commitment to “maintain and preserve” sex-based protections set out in the 2010 Equality Act, including single-sex spaces, and to highlight sex-based violence and inequality.
Election candidates and their agents are allowed to travel to the constituency or region in which they are standing if their activity cannot be done from home, and party leaders are allowed to travel with “the minimal number necessary of supporting staff”.
However, under current coronavirus rules, election hopefuls have been told a maximum of six people from six households are able to meet up at any one time, similar to existing rules on gatherings.
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