Vengeance of the Lib Dems
Willie Rennie jubilant as voters ‘smash it’ in the Northern Isles
THE Lib Dems yesterday celebrated a spectacular revenge on the SNP after increasing their majorities on island seats ruthlessly targeted by the Nationalists.
Despite slipping into an ignominious fifth place in Scottish politics, the party scored several sweet victories over the SNP – holding on to its two Northern Isles seats and gaining two on the mainland.
They added only one list seat to that tally – putting them behind the Greens, who now have six MSPs – but leader Willie Rennie said it was clear that his party had ‘turned the corner’.
The Orkney and Shetland seats were among the most eagerly hunted by the SNP. There were fears they may be particularly vulnerable as a result of the scandal in which MP Alistair Carmichael was accused of lying about his role in leaking comments allegedly made by a French ambassador about Nicola Sturgeon.
The row resulted in a lengthy legal battle which was feared to have weakened the Lib Dems’ standing in the islands. The Nationalists were anxious to capitalise on Mr Carmichael’s embarrassment and poured resources into the seats. But both Liam McArthur in Orkney and Tavish Scott in Shetland won with increased majorities.
While Mr McArthur secured a third term by more than doubling his majority from 2,912 to 7,096, Mr Scott celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday by winning a fifth parliamentary term with a margin of 7,440 votes on the SNP.
Lib Dem sources believe the increased majorities may have been a backlash by those who believed the Nationalists had gone too far to vilify Mr Carmichael.
A clearly emotional Mr Carmichael said: ‘Local people have not been impressed by the personalised and occasionally vicious attacks we’ve seen from some Nationalists.
‘It’s first and foremost an excellent result for Liam McArthur, an outstanding member of parliament. It also confirms the feedback we’ve had for months here now, which has been supportive of me defending the case brought against me. I hope this allows us to draw a line under that and move on. I will do what I have always done – happily help all my constituents, regardless of how they voted.’
He said the election campaign was dominated by local issues, such as subsidies for ferry services, late payments for farmers and fishing quotas.
‘The SNP tried to bully local people here into voting for them,’ Mr Carmichael said. ‘Their message on the doorstep and at hustings was you will only get this if you vote for us. That’s no
‘The SNP tried to bully local people’
way to treat people. They just don’t understand what island life is about. It’s always an entirely national campaign. They don’t have any interest in what matters to people here.’
UK Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said his party had ‘smashed it’ in the Northern Isles. On the mainland, there were two remarkable constituency victories for the party – along with dozens of poor showings where the Lib Dems trailed well behind in fourth place or worse.
Mr Rennie wrested the constituency seat in his native North East Fife back from the Nationalists; while Alex ColeHamilton pulled off the same trick in Edinburgh Western. Former MSP Mike Rumbles returned to the parliament as a list member for the North East.
Mr Rennie said: ‘We’ve turned the corner, there’s no doubt about it. Nobody predicted that we of all the parties would win mainland constituency seats – not just one, but two. And nobody predicted Liam and Tavish were going to win with 67 per cent of the vote. We would have been laughed at if we had suggested that during the election.’
‘The nature of the victory this time around is different and it’s moving in the right direction. People were saying the Lib Dems were finished. That’s far from the truth. We won constituency seats, which is no easy thing when you have a Nationalist tide coming. You think, “How on earth can you beat them with their 110,000 members? How do you stop that army?” Well, we did. That is a massive achievement and puts us back on the right track to make sure we can continue to grow.’
Mr Rennie would not be drawn into ‘negative’ reflections on his party’s relegation from fourth to fifth in terms of MSP numbers. He said: ‘In a parliament where there is no majority, we are as powerful as anybody else. We can exert our influence just like anybody else.’
Mr Cole-Hamilton is the only new Lib Dem face at Holyrood. His campaign office in Edinburgh’s Corstorphine was the hub of the party’s celebrations yesterday – while that of SNP rival Toni Giugliano lay deserted next door.
A few hundred yards away is the office of Michelle Thomson, the Nationalist MP who resigned the party whip last year pending an investigation into her property empire.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said the row had formed an important backdrop to the campaign. But he said his victory was down to ‘sheer graft and hard work by myself and a legion of activists and reconnecting with voters on doorsteps’.
He added: ‘We focused on the issues affecting people in Edinburgh Western; the spike in burglaries, our polluted and congested arterial roads and the difficulty in getting GP appointments.’