THE Tories’ Aberdeen South by-election candidate gave a “cringeworthy” endorsement of Liz Truss, resurfaced social media posts have shown.
Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Tory MSP for the North East region, said he was “impressed” by Truss during the 2022 Conservative leadership election, after Boris Johnson was forced to resign after the partygate scandal during the Covid-19 pandemic came to light.
Truss would go on to win the contest and become prime minister, but quit after 49 days in office after her disastrous mini-budget tanked the UK economy. Her premiership was the shortest in UK political history.
But Lumsden, who announced his candidacy for the Westminster seat just days after being elected to Holyrood, said he was “impressed” by Truss during the contest and said she had the “vision” to take the UK forward.
Lumsden previously came under fire for costing the Scottish publicTory MSP 'costs Scottish public £185k with AI-generated questions' | The National
“The more I hear from Liz the more I am impressed,” Lumsden wrote on July 20, 2022, linking to a Times interview where Truss said she boasted of her love for US president Ronald Reagan.
“We need a new direction [sic] @trussliz brings just that!”
“I'm backing @trussliz to be the next leader of our party,” Lumsden wrote on August 8, 2022.
“She's got the vision to take our country forward as one United Kingdom.”
The SNP said the posts were “cringeworthy endorsements” of Truss.
Ahead of a campaign visit to Aberdeen South with SNP by-election candidate Richard Thomson, Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said voters “should never Truss a Tory”.
“The Tories destroyed 70,000 oil and gas jobs, they introduced the hated windfall tax that is costing 1000 jobs a month while the Tory candidate here was a lickspittle for Liz Truss who wrecked the economy,” Flynn said.
“People in Aberdeen will never forgive the Tories for what they did to our city and we cannot let them or Farage get their hands on Aberdeen South.
“Families in Aberdeen are paying the price everyday for the disaster that was the Tory government – a cost of living crisis, the windfall tax and job losses on an industrial scale. That is the Tories’ toxic legacy in Aberdeen.
“Aberdeen South needs a strong voice for our city in Westminster, not a Tory or Reform MP who will lie down to the Westminster establishment – that strong voice can only come from the SNP and Richard Thomson.
“On Thursday, vote for the SNP for an MP that will always be on the side of Aberdeen South - vote SNP to beat the Tories and Farage.”
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: "This is desperate stuff from the SNP.
“People in Aberdeen South are focused on protecting local jobs, not Westminster point-scoring.
“The SNP should explain why they continue to back policies that threaten jobs and investment in the North East's oil and gas industry."
The Tories have put the oil and gas industry at the centre of their by-election campaign.
“People understand this is a chance for them to send both Labour and the SNP a strong message about the oil and gas industry,” Lumsden told the Press Association in Aberdeen.
“While we still have a need for oil and gas, it’s much better that we produce it in this country, because it’s much better for our economy and also our jobs.
“That’s the thing, so many people in Aberdeen are losing their jobs at present and there’s no other party doing what we want to do – and that’s to try and save those jobs and get drilling again.”
Richard Thomson – who has gone from party adviser to council leader to MP to former MP – is the SNP candidate in the seat and he said the race is about being “honest” about the energy industry.
“I think people need to hear the right things from their candidates about oil and gas,” he said.
“But also I think that people have got long memories, they know exactly what has been taken from this area, they know how little has been returned and they also know the energy profits levy that is killing the industry at the moment, that’s creating the cliff-edge that Labour are looking to push us over.”
The energy profits levy – dubbed the windfall tax – was brought in under the previous Tory government to curb what was seen as excessive profits stemming from the cost-of-living crisis.
While industry experts have warned it could be costing as many as 1000 jobs every month in the North Sea, the now Labour-led UK Government has resisted calls from the sector and opposition parties to scrap it.
