Jimmy Buchan, the Conservative candidate for Banff and Buchan, is calling on the constituency's sitting Scottish Nationalist MP, Alex Salmond, to stand down and create a by-election.
Mr Salmond has, of course, been First Minister of Scotland and MSP for the Gordon constituency since 2007, but Mr Buchan's call for a by-election comes in the wake of the decision of two SNP MSPs to resign as local councillors in order to concentrate on their duties at Holyrood.
Mr Salmond has previously indicated that he will serve out the rest of this Parliament as an MP - and a new SNP candidate is already in place - but Conservative candidate Mr Buchan is up for fighting her in a by-election at the earliest opportunity. He says:
“If two backbench Nationalists can recognise that being an MSP is a full-time job, then what makes Alex Salmond so special that he can have three? As an MSP and first minister, he should already have enough on his plate. Given his record at Westminster, it is clear that the people of Banff and Buchan have a no-show MP and that Alex Salmond is letting them down.
“It’s time for the absentee MP to do the decent thing and stand down to coincide with the European elections as well. I’m ready for a by-election, but is the SNP?”
“It’s time for the absentee MP to do the decent thing and stand down to coincide with the European elections as well. I’m ready for a by-election, but is the SNP?”
Jonathan Isaby
