Nicola Sturgeon has opened the SNP’s conference in Aberdeen with a £3billion pledge to build 50,000 new affordable homes in Scotland.
The first minister outlined an ambitious bid to court last year’s No voters as the campaign for the Holyrood election next year stepped-up a gear.
Ms Sturgeon, who received numerous standing ovations during her speech at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, also said she was “delighted” to be in the “great city”.
After launching a scathing attack on the “unreliable” Labour party, she outlined the SNP’s strategy to win an unprecedented third-term victory in the Scottish Parliament elections.
She said: “I don’t want to just win the votes of independence supporters. I want to inspire people who voted No to vote SNP too.
“If we are re-elected next May, our target in the next parliament will be to build at least 50,000 new affordable homes.
“That commitment – worth more than £3billion – is a mark of ambition we have for this country.
“Ambition for Scotland and for everyone who lives here will be the hallmark of our campaign for re-election.”
The commitment has been welcomed by charities, including Shelter Scotland, whose director, Graeme Brown, said it was “undoubtedly good news”.
The first minister also pledged that the SNP would take “nothing for granted” in the election campaign, despite opinion polls suggesting more than half of people will vote for the party.
She added: “We must convince the people of this country that I will be the best first minister, that we are the best team, and that we have the best policies and the best vision to lead Scotland confidently into the next decade.”
She was preceded on stage by Aberdeen South MP, Callum McCaig, who launched an attack on the council administration in the city over a “chronic lack of housing”.
And the MP, who was elected earlier this year, admitted it was a “difficult time” for the oil industry in the north-east.
But he insisted: “We are doing what we can but there is a clear intransigence from the Westminster government.
“If we had the powers we could do so much more.”
Thousands of delegates have already arrived in Aberdeen for the 81st annual SNP conference. Up to 5,000 are expected to attend the three day event in total, pumping around £4million into the local economy.