In their own words: Candidates at the general election for the Gordon and Buchan constituency which includes Huntly
VOTERS will be going to the polls on Thursday, July 4 in the Gordon and Buchan constituency.
The candidates in alphabetical order are Nurul Hoque Ali (Labour); Kris Callander (Reform UK); Harriet Cross (Conservative); Richard Thomson (SNP); Conrad Wood (Lib Dems).
In advance of the general election we asked all of them the same set of questions.
Here are the replies we’ve received from four:
1. A wide range of local organisations appear to have problems attracting high-level staff to our region. How serious is the situation and are there any practical steps that you would like to see implemented?
Kris Callander (Reform UK): Many of our rural hospitals and health facilities are being wound down, reduced and centralised towards larger complexes in Aberdeen and Inverness (a case for dualling the A96). This is obviously, and rightly, a great concern to the people in these areas. This has a snowball effect on difficulties in recruitment, as an already 'hard sell' on rural care provision, becomes even harder when confronted with a stripped down, bare-boned facility. The result is often the pay offering being massively increased to entice doctors and begins a financial death spiral. Also, we do not have the luxury of multiple listings in rural locations and this itself is a detriment to recruiting. One practical aspect, which is not usually discussed, would be to invest in high quality accommodation, solely for the use of such highly skilled folk.
Harriet Cross (Conservative): We must ensure our region is as attractive and convenient to live and work in compared to other parts of the country. To achieve this, we need access to quality, affordable housing, reliable transport links (which the A96 and many other of our key roads are not), and great schools so workers are never put in the situation of having to choose between their children’s education and where to base their career.
Taxation is also a key issue. Healthcare workers and anyone else earning more than about £28,000 in Scotland, are paying higher income tax compared to the rest of the UK. This decision by the SNP is a barrier to attracting and retaining staff in numerous sectors.
It's extremely concerning that veterinary surgeries across the North East have stopped weekend cover. We must remove the cap on university places in veterinary medicine and medicine so students who are more likely to stay at home practice in Scotland. It’s vital we prioritise to pay for remote and rural placings, as is done for those working in London.
Richard Thomson (SNP): Although there's no shortage of talent and ability in the North East, it's natural that young people might want to move away to work and study, even if they do come back north later in life. For that reason, we've always relied on being able to attract skilled people to the area from elsewhere.
For some occupations, I think that the more people we can encourage to come to the North East to study, the more people we can retain here. The establishment of the new Veterinary School at SRUC will – I am sure – help to fill that particular gap in the years to come.
However, we can't ignore the devastating impact that Brexit and the ending of free movement has had on our area. It has left a big hole in the finances of our universities; and it has made us a far less attractive place for people who want to come from overseas to work hard and contribute to our area. The UK Government's immigration policy is bad for Scotland. We need to be able to have an immigration policy which works for Scotland and which can help us to fill the skills gaps that we know exist across a range of our economy and public sector.
Conrad Wood (Lib Dems): Since the Conservatives bungled Brexit we have been struggling to recruit skilled workers in many sectors, from rural GPs and care nurses to farm workers and fishing crews. It’s going to take time to get things back on track, but there are some things we can do quickly, like scrapping the arbitrary salary cap for visas and replacing it with limits on a job-by-job basis. In the long term we need to train more doctors and improve the working conditions in the NHS, including providing mental health support. To fix social care we need to make it a valued profession with fair pay and career progression.
2. Does the A96 need to be dualled? Or are there other priorities upon which the money would be better spent?
KC: In short, yes. Faster roads improve distribution of local products, services and access for commuters. Dual lanes improve safety and ability for emergency services to attend in time critical scenarios. The main route between Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness is heavy with haulage, which results in constant need for road repairs, this in turn slows the road and journey time. A dual-lane would reduce the load on any particular patch, reducing servicing but allow the flow to continue when needed.
HC: Absolutely. The A96 is outdated with insufficient capacity. It’s an accident hotspot and certainly not conducive to attracting investment and driving growth in our region. The SNP first promised in 2011 that the A96 would be dualled by 2030 – 13 years on this promise has been watered down and constantly delayed.
Dualling the road would open our region to inward investment, business growth, increased connectivity for our communities and improve safety. The knock-on benefit would be transformational for our region.
This is why the A96 is one of my top priorities, along with the A947 and A90 north of Ellon, which the then-First Minister Alex Salmond pledged to dual in his first 100 days in office in 2007 but failed to deliver.
RT: I believe that the A96 should be dualled, on the grounds of both safety and economic growth. I welcomed the £200 million investment made in rail services between Aberdeen and Inverness; the opening of new stations on that line; and would like to see further development of rail freight to get more lorries off the roads. But fundamentally, we need a good and reliable road between Aberdeen and Inverness, as do all of the communities along the route.
CW: : The A96 and A90 both need to be dualled urgently. These roads are dangerous, are costing lives and holding back the economic development of rural Aberdeenshire.
3. What do you think is the purpose of government?
KC: Government is there to service the wills and needs of the people, not to impose upon them.
HC:In addition to the key responsibility of ensuring the security of the nation, I believe that the purpose of government is to provide the opportunity for people from all walks of life to better themselves. The government should provide the mechanisms and the individual should apply the ambition.
RT: To represent the people by acting as a guarantor of people's fundamental rights, by protecting people from external threat, by maintaining the rule of law; by upholding individual liberty and by regulating private enterprise as far as is necessary to ensure a fair and equitable economy.
Following from that, it is to act as a body which can bring collective benefit through the fair collection and distribution of resources and surplus in the provision of services to improve the individual and public good; and to provide a fair, transparent and democratic means of deciding on how best to reconcile the conflicting needs, priorities and desires which inevitably arise from that.
CW: The purpose of government is to enable everyone to achieve their full potential, regardless of their background. That’s why Liberal reforms have included creation of education for children, the National Health Service and advancement of equal rights.
4. What is the basic level of provision a government should ensure everyone has?
KC: Education, health, justice, food & shelter.
HC: To improve the lives of its citizens by enhancing public services for the benefit of the country while supporting individuals, businesses and communities to do well and thrive.
RT: To guarantee and uphold people's fundamental rights; and to ensure that everyone – regardless of private means - has a material standard of living and security which enables them to participate fully in society to the best of their capacity.
CW : The government needs to manage an economy in which everyone can afford a roof over their head and food on the table. For this to be achieved, the government needs to provide safe streets, high-quality education and reliable health services.
5. What shouldn't a government be responsible for and why?
KC: Ensuring individual outcomes i.e. equity.
HC: Governments shouldn’t restrict personal choice. People have the right to make their own decisions with the help of transparent and supporting evidence if they choose to.
RT: Government should not be involved in any activity which does not bring a significant economic, social or cultural public good, and should only restrict individual liberty and expression to the minimum extent necessary in order to uphold the equal and competing rights of others.
CW: The government is not responsible for individual’s choices and the outcomes of them. The government however should ensure that people have the information they need to make informed decisions.
6. Why are you standing for election?
KC: Policies being brought into place have no connection with the needs of the people (Net Zero & ULEZ schemes, Gender theory and ‘affirming care’). I, along with many others, feel despondent and disenfranchised by the current governing parties. A sense of complacency and stagnation has descended in the houses of power and a desire for change and rejuvenation is emerging outwith.
HC: I want to put my energy into a career where I can make a difference. I believe that I have the intellect and drive to bring real change and I want to use that to the benefit of others; the people and businesses of Gordon and Buchan. In particular, I passionately want to improve the lives and opportunities of rural communities. Those of us who live and work rurally should not have to move away to further ourselves, or have to put up with poorer access to services, healthcare or education.
RT: Whether from my time as a local journalist, a local councillor and for the last four and a half years as a Member of Parliament, I have a track record of public service and advocacy for individuals, businesses and wider causes which I believe has been beneficial to this area.
CW: I want to use my 15 years’ experience engineering in the oil and gas industry to ensure that our area is central to the green jobs of the future, and to ensure that any oil and gas the UK uses supports jobs here in Scotland.
7. Who is your role model?
KC: As an engineer, I have to recognise Elon Musk and all the innovation he has brought into the world. Paypal, starlink, neurolink, EV industry, space exploration and the preservation of free speech on the internet.
HC: Edmund Hillary – for exploring and pushing boundaries. Steve Redgrave – for his determination and perseverance. Ernest Shackleton – for his service and for surviving and protecting others in the most testing of situations.
RT: George Reid, the former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament who also spent over a decade working for the International Red Cross in conflict and disaster zones around the world. I first got to work and campaign with him when I was at university and he was seeking election to Westminster in 1997. He helped to give devolution credibility when it was at a low ebb and has been an unfailing and inspirational advocate for a socially democratic, outwardly looking internationalist self-governing Scotland. His commitment to public service and securing better outcomes while playing a full part in the world around us is the standard I would like to meet for myself.
CWI want to follow in the footsteps of Malcolm Bruce, the former Lib Dem MP for Gordon. Malcolm was re-elected 6 times here because he focused on local priorities. I think we need an MP like that again.
8. What characteristics are necessary for a politician?
KC: Pragmatism & honesty. A solid grounding in reality and the ability to hold two-thoughts at the same time; both of which are lacking in many career politicians.
HC: Drive, determination, a (very) thick skin and strong conviction in what you are trying to achieve. But also realism and pragmatism – you cannot achieve or change everything – so you must be honest about what is achievable. That is crucial to building trust.
RT: Resilience; principle; commitment to the people you represent; the ability to deal constructively with disagreement; an ability to work with others; and the humility to recognise that neither you nor your chosen party will always have all the right answers.
CW: Integrity and honesty. Scandals in both Edinburgh and London have shaken people’s faith in politicians. We need to build-back that trust.
9. Why should we vote for you?
KC: My background is in Nuclear and Oil & Gas engineering, my degree is in Renewables. I am aware of the capabilities and, more importantly, the limitations of various energy systems. Standing for a North East constituency, dependent on Oil & Gas and the farming, I would vehemently oppose Net Zero policies which seek to dismantle and constrict these industries, along with the thousands of people whose livelihoods depend upon them.
HC: A vote for me is a vote to return the focus of your priorities – the priorities that I have heard from you over the past year that I have been knocking on doors in the run up to this election. I will listen to the concerns of residents and businesses across the constituency and work to make Gordon and Buchan, and Aberdeenshire, an attractive, aspirational and attainable place to live, work, grow up and grow old.
Instead of voting for a party that is fixated on and distracted by driving their independence agenda at the expense of all else, a vote of me and the Scottish Conservatives is a vote for improved roads, safeguarding local healthcare and protecting and supporting our key industries such as oil and gas, farming and food production.
I will work to finally secure a fair share of funding for Aberdeenshire Council, which is currently significantly underfunded compared to other Scottish Councils. Improving the level of this funding will bring benefits to the services we use every day.
Where development and industrialisation are taking place, whether this is housing in our towns and villages or pylons and other energy infrastructure across farmland and rural communities, I believe that these must be appropriate in size and scale and communities must have a right for their concerns to be listened to and addressed.
In Gordon and Buchan, it’s a straight fight between me and an independence-obsessed SNP, which has no interest in, or understanding of, the North East.
I ask voters who are tired of their priorities being ignored by the SNP to unite behind me on July 4 to ensure Gordon and Buchan has someone who is motivated, ambitious and will prioritise communities across the constituency, rather than focussing on breaking up the UK.
RT: Beyond the policy platform on which I stand as an SNP Candidate, I have worked hard to represent local people, logging around 12,000 constituency cases since December 2019. In Parliament, I have also made a positive contribution to scrutinising legislation, holding ministers to account and speaking truth to power.
I would like to think that I have represented the area as people would wish it to be represented, and that even where people may have had disagreements with aspects of my policy platform, that I have still been able to represent them respectfully and well. I would like to continue to have that opportunity to serve our community and to again have that opportunity to make that contribution on your behalf.
CW: After 14 years of SNP and Conservative governments, nothing seems to work. We need change. In Gordon and Buchan, only the Liberal Democrats can win change – we have won Gordon in four of the last seven General elections and have a councillor in every ward.
