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General Election: Whiteford says landslide is call for more “positive policies”

UK General Election count at the AECC for Gordon, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Banff and Buchan.    
Stuart Donaldson, Eilidh Whiteford and Alex Salmond.    
Picture by Kami Thomson
UK General Election count at the AECC for Gordon, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Banff and Buchan. Stuart Donaldson, Eilidh Whiteford and Alex Salmond. Picture by Kami Thomson

Eilidh Whiteford said the result in Banff and Buchan was a signal that voters wanted to see “positive policies”.

She comfortably defended her seat thew north-east, which has been held by the Nationalists for more than a generation.

Ms Whiteford secured the largest ever majority in the constituency’s 32-year history, triumphing with 27,487 votes – 60% of the ballots cast.

On a watershed night for Scottish politics, her victory stood as one of a only handful in which seats did not change hands.

Ms Whiteford said: “It’s a phenomenal result across Scotland and I think an indication people want better politics, more positive politics with a bit of vision coming forward and not just knocking the other parties.

“I want to work with people from across these islands to build a better, more positive society.

“I’m really looking forward to having this big team of colleagues.

“Obviously there’s a lot to learn, but there are some extraordinarily talented people in the pool that’s been elected this morning and they will make excellent MPs.”

She added: “I’m very humbled by the scale of the victory, and the resounding vote of confidence people have placed in me.”

As Alex Salmond – the man she replaced as Banff and Buchan’s Westminster representative five years ago – swept to victory in neighbouring Gordon, celebrations of Ms Whiteford’s victory were subdued by comparison.

But while attention was focused on SNP gains across the whole of Scotland, Ms Whiteford’s success in not just holding but dramatically boosting party support in an already staunchly Nationalist area underlined the scale of support for the party.

The SNP first claimed the Banff and Buchan constituency – formed in 1983 – when Alex Salmond emerged victorious at the 1987 general election, beating veteran Conservative Sir Albert McQuarrie in the process.

Gordon’s new MP held the Banff and Buchan seat for 23 years before stepping aside at the 2010 General Election.

When presiding officer Jim Savege announced the result, Conservative Alex Johnstone was left trailing in second place with 13,148 votes. David Evans of the Liberal Democrats received 2,347 votes.

The Labour Party withdrew its support for candidate Sumon Hoque when he was charged with a string of driving offences last month.

Nevertheless, his name appeared on ballot papers across the north-east and he came in third with 2,647 votes.

The turnout across Banff and Buchan was 66.7%.

Mr Johnstone said: “It was a good fight, a clean fight and the result – while a disappointment to me personally – is a tribute to the hard work of our Banff and Buchan campaign team. The Conservatives can live to fight another day.

“The Conservatives can certainly hold our heads up in Banff and Buchan – we are a strong second and have every intention to continue to fight tooth and nail against a Scottish Nationalist Party that likes to tell people what they want to hear.”

Mr Johnstone agreed with SNP agents that the coalition government had polarised the Banff and Buchan constituency, crippling the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.