Rennie: Vote Lib Dem to put recovery first 02/05/2021, 9:44 am
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie during a visit to Ingliston Racing Circuit at the Royal Highland Centre, in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)
Willie Rennie has claimed the Scottish Liberal Democrats will “make the difference” between a Holyrood parliament focused on recovery rather than an independence referendum.
He projected his party would gain seats at the polls on Thursday.
Mr Rennie claimed previous SNP and independence supporters were switching to his party as they “recognise” now is not the time for a referendum, with coronavirus still damaging the country.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “It’s the Liberal Democrat seats in this election that will make the difference between the parliament being focused on recovery, which the Liberal Democrats want, and the parliament being focused on independence, which is what the SNP want.
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Beer songster AFTER Anas Sarwar went viral dancing to Uptown Funk, Douglas Ross warbled a not at all toe-curling version of Atomic Kitten’s Whole Again for STV. He has now been dubbed Atomic Gibbon for his efforts. So what came over the staid Scottish Tory leader? Mr Ross tells us the muse struck after he had just necked a “gorgeous” pint to mark pubs reopening. “I felt like I was at a young farmers dance again and I just had to drink it as quickly as possible,” he confides. “Which is probably why I then started serenading Colin McKay.” A parched Unspun forgives him.
Analysis There’s every reason to suspect that the contest in Aberdeenshire East in a few days’ time may be competitive
Winner in 2016: Gillian Martin (SNP) ABERDEENSHIRE East, and its predecessor constituency of Gordon, was held by Alex Salmond during his seven-year tenure as First Minister. But that doesn’t in any sense mean that it’s a seat in which the SNP have always been strong. When Salmond first announced his intention to stand there, the Liberal Democrat Nora Radcliffe was the incumbent and had a very healthy majority over the Tories. The SNP were in a distant third.
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What happened last time?
Save for a five-year spell between 2011 and 2016, North East Fife has been a one of the Scottish Parliament s few Liberal Democrat strongholds. Incumbent MSP and Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie snatched the seat from the SNP s Roderick Campbell five years ago.
That momentum carried on into 2019 s General Election, which saw Lib Dem Wendy Chamberlain take the Westminster North East FIfe seat from the SNP s Stephen Gethins after he scored two successive victories in 2015 and 2017.
Voters go to the polls on Thursday