A STUNNING admission that Labour threw the last election in a key seat raises an obvious question: are they doing the same this time around?
The evidence suggests they are. The National revealed earlier this week that Labour’s Aberdeen South candidate Tauqeer Malik admitted to a voter that his party “did not bother at all” in order to help the Tory campaign against the SNP.
Simply put, they wanted a Tory MP over an SNP one. In the event, they were unsuccessful and the SNP’s Stephen Flynn (below) took the seat from Tory Ross Thomson.
But are they doing the same this time around to give the Tories – the party with the best chance of beating the SNP in Aberdeen – a shot at dethroning the wunderkind Flynn? It certainly looks like it.
READ MORE: Sack Labour candidate after 'we helped Tories in 2019' comment, Keir Starmer urged
With the best will in the world, Malik is not the sort of candidate you put up if you’re in the business of winning. Political parties do not expect to win in every seat. For instance, Tory candidates in parts of the central belt often barely hold onto their deposits.
Sometimes these are candidates with potential, but too green for office just yet. Other times, these paper candidates are effectively cannon fodder and the thought of them actually winning would send shivers down the spines of party high command.
Malik is of the latter camp. As we have seen, he is not a polished campaigner. His explanation for Labour’s paltry 3000-odd votes in Aberdeen South last time around pours scorn on his predecessor Shona Simpson.
READ MORE: What Labour hopeful's 'we threw election to help Tories' admission really tells us
She reacted with genuine incredulity when I put Malik’s claims to her. When I called to ask if she really had thrown the election, Simpson replied: “I certainly did not throw the election, absolutely not. That’s a ridiculous statement, no absolutely no.”
Malik does not enjoy the clean rap sheet you might associate with a serious candidate.
During the leadership of Kezia Dugdale (above), he was one of the Aberdeen Nine, who were booted out for forming a coalition on the city council with the Tories.
READ MORE: Labour backing Tories is not new – here are Scotland's Better Together councils
Earlier this year, he was temporarily relieved of his duties as a councillor by a standards watchdog after he was found to have made a baseless accusation of racial discrimination against an SNP councillor.
He is not however, the ideal paper candidate. Usually, political parties want someone who would give them considerably less grief than Labour are currently getting for Malik’s antics.
Will he be elected? Almost certainly not. But at this rate, Labour will just be happy to keep the £500 deposit for his candidacy.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel