4 days ago
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Labour by-election candidate 'only one listening' to voters as he defends claims he's given up
SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: Davy Russell said he would rather speak to voters than the media and insisted he will be the next MSP for Hamilton.
Labour's Holyrood hopeful Davy Russell has insisted he will be the party's next MSP claiming he is the only one listening to voters.
The candidate for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse was campaigning alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar yesterday, surrounded by some of the party's most senior figures.
Russell has been accused of being absent on the campaign by rivals and some detractors within Labour have suggested the party selected the wrong person to stand for the seat.
He has turned down a live TV debate against the SNP and Reform tomorrow and failed to appear on BBC's series of candidate interviews last week.
But Russell said it was more important to listen to people in the constituency than speak to the media. He said: "[I've been out] chapping doors every day, four sessions a day, half past nine in the morning and finishing at nine o'clock at night. I also live here.
"The response in the doorsteps has been tremendous but the opposition haven't been chapping doors. Reform have been putting leaflets through but they're not speaking to people, they're not listening and that's the difference I'm making."
Russell, an avid karaoke fan, joked that his song would be Del Shannon's The Answer to Everything which features the lyrics 'Don't ask me a mountain of questions'.
Asked if he was uncomfortable with media appearances Russell said: 'That doesn't bother me but the people have been ignored for far too long.
'In the last 18 years since the SNP have got in, they tell people what's happening and they don't actually listen to them. They have not been listening. I have been chapping doors, hearing what people have got to say.
'When I go home I'm trying to fix things for people already and trying to put things right for them. It's working. You'll find out on June 5 that I will be the MSP.'
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MPs Douglas Alexander and Martin McCluskey as well as MSPs Monica Lennon and Paul O'Kane were among those in Stonehouse to support Russell ahead of Thursday's vote.
Sarwar insisted his party was the one to vote for if people are frustrated with the SNP, not Reform. He said: "Farage is a toxic little man and he will spread any type of poison for his own ends.
"People have a legitimate scunner factor. They don't think the Scottish Government works for them, the NHS, the economy. They are tempted by the destructive option (Reform) to vent their frustration.
"I don't think they can win here but they can create the noise and that's what they've done. If you want to change that direction then we have to end the SNP rule."
When asked about Farage's racist advert targeting him, which has reached almost one million people on social media, Sarwar said: "Sadly, it's clear that Nigel Farage and his band will want to make my own identity, my love for Scotland, my own loyalty to Scotland, a question not just in this by-election but in next year's election. Sadly that is now probably a feature of our politics.
"I've never felt a need before to argue or emphasise my own identity given the fact I was born in Scotland, never lived a day of my life away from Scotland and am bringing up my children in Scotland.
"I'm as Scottish as anyone can be. I've got more in common with people across Scotland than he does, and Scots will utterly reject him.'
Seven miles away in Hamilton the First Minister was alongside his candidate Katy Loudon. Swinney said: "Labour have let people across Scotland down, and they have quite clearly given up on this by-election.
"Thursday's vote is now a straight contest between the SNP and Nigel Farage – and I am urging people to reject the ugly, divisive politics of Nigel Farage and to unite behind the SNP.
"I know things are really tough right now for many people, with the cost of living a real issue – but while others shout, the SNP is acting."
Meanwhile, Reform's candidate Ross Lambie was preparing for a visit from party chief Farage who will arrive in Scotland tomorrow. The Clacton MP has beefed up his security team ahead of the visit.
The Reform UK leader will visit Hamilton as well as Aberdeen in an attempt to appeal to voters concerned about the declining oil and gas sector.
A senior Reform source said there was "a massive security detail" in place. He added: "Due to the level of protest we're expecting, we're keeping timings and details tight until the last minute. We've informed the police about the visit as well."
In 2013 Farage, as the Ukip leader, found himself being hounded out of Edinburgh with a police escort. The MP is hoping Reform will be more appealing to Scottish voters than Ukip, after a poll published at the start of May, put Reform second.
An average of all polls conducted since June 2024 puts Reform in third position, behind Labour and the SNP. Reform said it would not comment on Farage's security arrangements.
