During a selection meeting last night local members of the Scottish Conservative Party in Perth and Kinross unanimously selected Murdo Fraser MSP and Liz Smith MSP to fight the Perthshire North and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire seats at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.
Commenting on his selection Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“I am delighted to be the unanimous choice of local Conservative members to be their candidate for the Perthshire North constituency for the Scottish Parliament elections next May,
“I have served this area in Holyrood since 2001 as MSP for Mid-Scotland & Fife and I look forward to being able to carry on my work on behalf of local people, campaigning on the issues that matter to them: for a vibrant economy, for better transport links & high speed broadband, defending local health services, against the over development of onshore wind farms, for fairer parking arrangements, and many more.
“The recent Westminster election showed that the Conservative vote in North Perthshire is on the way up. Supporters of other parties are switching to us as the Party best placed to stand up to the SNP. With the unwelcome prospect of a second independence referendum on the horizon if the SNP win the 2016 election, and with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats in disarray, only the Conservatives can be trusted to defend Scotland's place in the UK.
“The Scottish Conservative messages of personal responsibility, of keeping taxes down, of standing up for hard working families, and of excellent public services, are all ones which increasingly resonate with Perthshire residents. This is the platform I look forward to campaigning on in the months ahead.”
Commenting on her selection Liz Smith MSP said:
“It is a privilege to be adopted as the 2016 Holyrood Tory Candidate for South Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
“This is a critical time for politics in Scotland, most especially because of the need to provide a strong and credible unionist opposition to the nationalists which will tackle, head on, the statist approach to government which has become the hallmark of the SNP.
"The Tories must offer a radical alternative which is based on a low tax economy, on polices which support the family and the individual rather than the state and which provide much stronger support for the rural sector which is increasingly under threat from cuts to services in rural communities and the SNP's invidious land reform proposals which will damage jobs."
Graham Rees Perth and Kinross Conservative Party Chairman said;
“It is important that we have two well-known and highly regarded local campaigners to contest both seats in Perth and Kinross and we have exactly that in Murdo Fraser MSP and Liz Smith MSP.
“Over the last parliamentary term Murdo and Liz have worked extremely hard for the people of Mid-Scotland and Fife and it is great to have them contest the Perthshire North and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire seats at next year’s Scottish elections.
“Conservative support increased significantly in the region during the recent UK election and both Murdo and Liz will use their strong local records coupled with a unionist vision to take on the SNP in Perth and Kinross.”