Six in running for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross seat amid ‘growing dissatisfaction’
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Voters in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency are preparing to go to the polls as the Prime Minister announced a July 4 election.
Candidates for the far north have already been setting out their stall ahead of the vote, which is expected to be another close-run affair between the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.
The seat is currently held by Lib Dem Jamie Stone, although he only edged out the SNP’s Karl Rosie – a current Highland councillor for Thurso and Northwest Caithness – by 204 votes in the 2019 general election.
Mr Stone has held the seat since the previous election in June 2017. He will face the challenge from Lucy Beattie of the SNP in this summer’s contest.
Others running for the constituency this year are: Anne Thomas, Scottish Greens; Eva Kestner, Labour; Steve Chisholm, Alba; and Sandra Skinner, Reform UK.
Announcing the election in the pouring rain outside No.10 Downing Street on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak said he was “guided by doing what is right for our country, not what is easy”.
“I can't say the same thing for the Labour party,” he continued. “Because I don't know what they offer. And in truth, I don't think you know either. And that's because they have no plan.”
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The Prime Minister argued the UK economy is on the mend and people need to stick with the Conservatives to “build on the progress we have made or risk going back to square one with no plan and no certainty”.
Mr Stone welcomed the move to call an election earlier than many people expected, and said there had been “growing dissatisfaction, sometimes verging on incredulity and anger,” with governments in Westminster and Edinburgh.
He added: “It's time to make Highlanders heard when it comes to the state of our infrastructure, the centralisation of our health and maternity services, waiting times for GPs and dentists, the need to secure investment to maximise employment opportunities in order to halt and reverse the curse of depopulation, and the general feeling that people up here are being left behind.”
Ms Beattie of the SNP, from Leckmelm, near Ullapool, said she wanted to address the cost-of-living crisis in her campaign.
“For too long the people of Scotland have been subject to the vacillations of Westminster as they have steered a haphazard course through Brexit and the pandemic,” she said. “Added to this a mini-budget that crashed the economy, we now face this alongside the economic effects of the war in Ukraine.
“It is essential to consolidate and fight for policies to promote stability and wellbeing. In the north Highlands the challenges we need to address specifically relate to energy costs, warm, decent housing and jobs so that our working age population can be retained and grow.”
The Greens’ Anne Thomas said she was standing for Westminster to address the climate, nature, cost of living and health crises.
She added: “Scottish Greens are the only ones serious about tackling these but the Westminster government holds the purse strings and can and has vetoed decisions made in Scotland.
“We need Greens in Westminster to say 'no' to new oil, gas or nuclear and to enable the transformation of our economy to one which is fairer and provides more jobs in the new green economy.”
Ms Kestner, the Labour candidate, previously said she was committed to tackling the “multifaceted challenges facing our region head-on”. She is currently a councillor in Lewisham, London, but earlier in her career worked for Highlands and Islands Labour MSPs David Stewart and Rhoda Grant as a researcher.
Representing the Alba party, Mr Chisholm said when announcing his candidacy: "A credible transition to a new green economy is possible, and essential, but it must not leave workers and communities behind. Alba is the only party standing up for our oil and gas industry and its workers, recognising the importance of a gradual transition to renewable sources of energy.”
The Reform UK candidate has yet to issue a statement.
The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency has been extended since the last election, with two new constituencies having been formed elsewhere in the region – reducing the number of MPs representing the wider Highlands by one.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is the biggest territory; followed by Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber; Angus and Perthshire Glens is the next biggest followed by Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
In total that means four MPs will have to represent a population of 300,020 living across 35,537sq km of the most rural terrain in Europe – by comparison 11 MPs will represent 453sq km for Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area has a population of 75,173 and an area of 11,798sq km.
