THE Scottish Greens candidate for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale in the 2015 General Election has revealed he will be voting SNP for the first time next week.
Jody Jamieson was blamed by some for splitting the pro-independence vote in the constituency two years ago and allowing David Mundell to be re-elected as Scotland’s lone Tory MP.
The Scottish Greens are not fighting the seat this time and indeed are standing in just three constituencies in Scotland next week.
Jamieson has opted to give the SNP candidate Mairi McAllan his support on June 8 after watching her at a hustings in Peebles on Thursday night. He said most Green activists he knew in the area would be doing the same.
“I went along minded to support Mairi as I wanted to vote for a pro-independence candidate. But at the same time I hadn’t totally made up my mind as I would never support a weak candidate,” he told The National.
“But Mairi came across very well. She had great poise and was the candidate who impressed me the most. The fact she is best placed to oust David Mundell is a bonus.”
He added: “I also liked the Labour candidate Douglas Beattie. I got the impression he was more UK Labour than Scottish Labour which to me is a good thing, but Mairi will be getting my vote.”
Jamieson said he had no regrets about standing two years ago and said it was wrong to reach the conclusion that had he not stood Mundell would not have been re-elected. He said he backed local branches’ decision not to stand this time.
“For Mundell not to get back in in 2015 it would have needed 95 per cent of the people who voted for me to have voted for the SNP. While some Green voters will vote SNP if there are no Greens standing others will vote for other parties: I used to vote Liberal Democrat.”
Mundell held the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat in May 2015 with a majority of just 728 votes ahead of the SNP’s Emma Harper. Jamieson came sixth with just 839 votes and lost his deposit.
In April, the Scottish Greens’ co-convener Maggie Chapman said in an interview with The National that she would be happy for Green voters to back non-Green candidates if it meant ousting Mundell.
She suggested at the time the Greens were unlikely to stand in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale, or in neighbouring Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, where the SNP’s Calum Kerr is defending a majority of just 308 over the Conservatives.
McAllan, a trainee lawyer who lives near Sanquhar, yesterday told The National the contest was on a “knife edge”.
“I think we’ve run a really good campaign and we’ll be continuing to do our utmost next week. Things are on a knife edge. Our canvassing results are really good, but we are the underdog.”
McAllan added that on the doorsteps older voters were worried about the pledge by the Tories to remove the “triple lock”, which protects pensions by increasing either the cost of living, inflation, or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest.
“Many are also worried about the Tories’ plan to axe winter fuel allowance for all pensioners and also about the dementia tax. While they realise these policies won’t be implemented north of the Border they are against such an attack on older voters south of the Border,” she said.
“Farmers too worried about Brexit and what will happen to farming subsidies.”
Around 150 people turned out for the election hustings in Peebles on Thursday night.
Independence was among the issues raised and McAllan defended the Scottish Government’s mandate for a second referendum before Brexit.
“Independence was raised and I raised the issue that 62 per cent of the constituency voted to stay in the EU. I pointed out we had the SNP re-elected to the Scottish Parliament having stood on a manifesto that they should have a right to call another independence referendum if there was a remain vote in Scotland and the UK as a whole voted Leave. I also said this mandate was compounded by a vote in the Scottish Parliament.
“I stressed it was not appropriate to disrespect the vote of the legislature and to say there is no appetite for another independence referendum.”
“I challenged the three candidates – Tory, Labour and LibDem – asking them what right did they have to reject that mandate when it had been expressed in the parliament?
“I called the Liberal Democrats out on their position [on wanting a second EU referendum when the terms of Brexit are known] which appears to be [that] referendums are only decisive if they are Scottish and when Scotland’s future is at stake.”
The Scottish Greens are standing in Glasgow North, Edinburgh North and Leith and Falkirk.
While the SNP may benefit from the Greens not standing, Ukip are also not standing which may help the Tories.
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