Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Menzies Campbell has urged voters to help the party win back the former seat of Charles Kennedy.
Lord Campbell said that SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, elected to the seat in May 2015, has “a great deal to answer for” and criticised the SNP campaign in that election.
Speaking after a visit to the Black Isle Brewery, he urged people to support Craig Harrow, Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
READ MORE: Rosemary Goring: The caste system in Britain is still strong and we all have to change
He said: “Charles Kennedy was a Highland gentleman and an excellent local MP. He always fought for the Highlands and led the principled opposition to the Iraq War, yet faced appalling treatment at the hands of the SNP in the most despicable campaign I can recall in all my time in politics.
Charles Kennedy lost his seat in the 2015 general election (Andrew Milligan/PA)
“Ian Blackford has a great deal to answer for, as does the SNP high command in Edinburgh who knew exactly what sort of campaign was being run locally.
“It would be a bitter blow to the nationalists if they were to lose their Westminster leader for the second election in a row. Craig Harrow is a Liberal Democrat of the Kennedy tradition and would be an outstanding MP.”
Former Liberal Democrat leader Mr Kennedy died in June 2015 aged 55.
An SNP spokesman said: “Charles Kennedy represented Ross, Skye and Lochaber as a diligent local MP for many years – and in 2015 the people placed their trust in Ian Blackford and the SNP to do likewise.
“Ian has served his constituents with distinction since then, and while we take nothing for granted, we are confident that the SNP’s positive message is resonating with voters right across the Highlands and the rest of the country.
“A vote for the SNP at this election is a vote to escape Brexit, lock Boris Johnson out of Downing Street, and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel