THE Liberal Democrat who is challenging Alex Salmond in Aberdeenshire has said she is planning on sending the former First Minister a thank you note after the general election.

 

Christine Jardine, who is battling with Mr Salmond in the Gordon constituency, said her high-profile rival had galvanised support for her campaign to win the seat for the LibDems, the party that have held it since 1983.

It comes after the journalist and lecturer held an event where she highlighted support from Labour and Conservative members, as well as a Yes voter in the referendum who is joining her team.

The LibDems insist that they can defeat Mr Salmond with the help of traditional Labour and Tory voters who voted No in the referendum and do not want to see the ex-SNP leader become their MP.

"We're highlighting that we do have a lot of support from other parties and the campaign is gaining momentum," Ms Jardine said. "He's the challenger, not me. I was nominated before him, and this area has been represented by Malcolm Bruce for 32 years.

"But for me it's not about Alex Salmond or keeping him out, it's me trying to be the best possible MP for Gordon. The research we've done shows it will be tight. People think he hasn't done a good enough job as MSP or First Minister, and feel let down by the SNP. People don't feel he's the right person to stand up for Gordon.

"Alex Salmond has been a great help, he's turned into our best recruiting sergeant. I'm probably going to have to send him a thank you note."

However, despite Ms Jardine's confidence, polls have indicated that Mr Salmond remains on course to win the seat. YouGov modelling suggests that the SNP will win between 36 per cent and 47 per cent of the vote, with the LibDems on course to win a maximum of 29 per cent.

A Lord Ashcroft constituency poll, published in January, also gave Mr Salmond a strong lead, with 43 per cent compared to 26 per cent for the LibDems.

Mr Salmond has previously dismissed the threat of tactical voting, and was recently quoted as saying the LibDems would be "hammered" in the constituency.

Colin Clark, the Tory candidate in the seat, accused Ms Jardine of "desperation" and said her tactics were motivated by the collapse of her core vote.

"Nationally the Liberals are polling at four per cent," he said. "People who are voting tactically for them are under false pretences, their own core vote has disappeared. That's true in Gordon just like it is everywhere else.

"Tactical voting is the saviour of a party with no policies. We're getting responses that show a higher number of people are voting Conservative than we might have thought. There are still a lot of floating voters - 25 per cent haven't made their minds up and 25 per cent are telling us they might vote Conservative in the areas we're canvassing."