The leader of Aberdeen City Council’s Labour group is standing as the party’s pick for Aberdeen South at the next general election.
Councillor Tauqeer Malik will contest Aberdeen South – a seat held by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who plans to stand again.
Mr Malik claims it is a “straight head-to-head” between the pair despite Labour’s poor showing at the last general election in 2019.
The party trailed in fourth place, behind the Tories and Lib Dems, but did hold the seat between 1997 and 2015.
Party members selected Mr Malik following a hustings in the city on Thursday evening.
They also chose to back Lynn Thomson, a fellow Labour councillor, as the candidate for Aberdeen North.
Labour group leader selected
Mr Malik has taken on more of a senior role after being voted in as leader of the council’s Labour group in June – the third leader in six months.
He is among those pushing for Sir Keir Starmer to make a promised visit to Aberdeen to allay concerns from industry and unions over his North Sea strategy.
There has been widespread opposition in the city to Labour’s commitment against new oil and gas licences.
But speaking hours after being selected to fight Mr Flynn, he chose to hit out at his opponent over the SNP’s oil and gas stance.
He accused the SNP Westminster chief of failing to stand up for the thousands of oil and gas jobs in his constituency.
The Scottish Government has pushed for a presumption against new North Sea exploration.
But Labour has gone slightly further and said it wants a ban on new oil and gas licences if elected.
Mr Flynn spoke out last month about the risks of an “early shutdown” of oil and gas leading to North Sea jobs being lost to other countries.
‘Ill-judged remarks’
Speaking to the P&J, Mr Flynn said the city deserves elected representatives who understand the need for a “fair energy transition”.
He added: “I’m fortunate to have known Cllr Malik for many years so I’m sure it will be a good natured campaign despite his initial ill-judged remarks.
“But let’s not forget that Labour finished a very distant fourth in 2019, behind even the Lib Dems.”
Mr Malik has represented Lower Deeside since 2012 and is one of the longest-serving councillors at the local authority.
Ms Thomson was elected last year as a councillor for Kincorth, Nigg and Cove.
Former Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald told The P&J the party see both Aberdeen seats as ones they “could win”.
But Labour has failed to have any MPs elected in the city since 2015.
Who else is standing?
In Aberdeen North, Ms Blackman intends to stand again for the SNP.
She won the seat in 2019 with 54% of the vote and a majority of 12,670.
Labour came in third in Aberdeen North behind the Conservatives.
Ms Blackman will be joined by Mr Flynn who wants to hold on to Aberdeen South.
He wrested the key seat from the Tories in 2019 by earning 20,388 votes – a majority of 3,990 votes.
The Tories are expected to select their candidates for the two Aberdeen constituencies in September.
It is understood the Liberal Democrats will meet in the next fortnight to kick off the recruitment process in Aberdeen North.
Meanwhile, they are still to name who will be standing for the party in Aberdeen South.
The Greens are selecting candidates for both seats and aim to announce who is standing early next year.
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