Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged a north-east SNP Westminster candidate not to vote for himself.
City councillor Callum McCaig, who is standing in the Aberdeen South constituency, said he was surprised to receive a letter from the recently retired MP asking him to vote Labour.
He posted it online and asked: “Is Gordon Brown trolling me?”.
The letter addressed to Mr McCaig and sent to his home was signed by Mr Brown who claimed Labour was “ready to reclaim its historic role as Scotland’s party of fairness and social justice”.
The former prime minister wrote: “The SNP’s own spending plans for the UK confirm that next year they would not spend a single penny more than the Tories.
“And the nationalists would scrap the Barnett formula meaning that our NHS and other public services could only be funded by taxes raised in Scotland.
“Only a vote for Labour can stop the Tories and protect our National Health Service for future generations.
“I ask you to vote Labour.”
Asked what he made of the unexpected communication, Mr McCaig said: “I was surprised because it is not everyday that you get a letter from a former prime minister asking you not to vote for yourself.
“It obviously slipped through the net, these things happen from time to time, but needless to say I do not think I will be following Mr Brown’s advice and I will be voting SNP in this election.”
Successive opinion polls have suggested that the SNP is on track to win most of Scotland’s 59 seats on May 7.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that a large block of nationalist MPs would keep a UK Government led by Ed Miliband “honest” and push for socially progressive policies that would benefit people across the UK.