Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party, now strongly opposed to net zero policies and supportive of oil and gas, won the Aberdeen South vote, defeating the Scottish National Party. Oil and gas companies are key employers in the area, where many drilling-related jobs have disappeared due to depleted reserves and lack of investment.
Badenoch claims Miliband’s policies are worsening the situation, making this a central issue in the party’s local campaign. Labour finished fourth with only 5.4 percent of the vote, down from nearly 25 percent in the 2024 general election.
The winning Tory candidate, Douglas Lumsden, informed voters through leaflets that a Conservative victory would “send a very clear message to Ed Miliband down in London.”
The union question
Miliband and Burnham are likely to dismiss opposition party criticisms, but warnings from their union allies will be more challenging to overlook.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, the country’s second-largest union and a vocal critic of Miliband’s North Sea strategy, described Aberdeen South as “a direct result of failed Labour policies on oil and gas.” Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland’s general secretary, said it was “entirely predictable that a Tory would win this election by promising to protect the North Sea,” cautioning of an “industrial catastrophe unfolding in plain sight.”
These comments will resonate with the Burnham camp, which has promised to prioritize ordinary workers’ concerns. (Team Burnham declined to comment on the Aberdeen South result or their North Sea position on Friday.)
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