Moray Labour councillors Sandy Keith and Ben Williams have reacted to the news of Lisa Cameron, the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow defecting from the SNP to the Conservatives.

Following the news, Councillor Keith said:

‘Well we all knew that the SNP and the Conservatives were a lot closer than they would like to admit, and this just proves that point. 

Fortunately, Scottish Labour’s historic win last week in Rutherglen and Hamilton West shows that we are back in the game, and at the next election, residents of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, alongside the rest of Scotland, including here in Moray, have a chance to vote for real change, not just a binary choice between the Tories or the Tartan Tories’.

Meanwhile, Councillor Ben Williams (Fochabers Lhanbryde) also gave his views, saying:

‘People in Scotland have been told time and time again that they should ‘Vote SNP to get rid of the Tories’. That, like so many promises by the SNP has been proven to be false, as the SNP have shown themselves, yet again, to live up to the term Tartan Tories.

Beyond the politics, though, we all ought to be very concerned that Lisa Cameron has mentioned a ‘toxic and bullying’ environment within the SNP. I expect SNP supporters and representatives to condemn any such behaviour’.