 | 'Phil Gallie's decision not to stand in the Ayr by-election is a clear admission by the Tories that they are incapable of winning the seat from Labour. The Tories in Scotland are obviously suffering from a strong dose of the jitters which is compounded by the disastrous Tory performance at the UK level.' SNP Deputy Leader, John Swinney, MSP, 5 th January 2000. |  |
Mr Gallie, who came within 25 votes of the Labour winner last May, was elected to Holyrood through the South of Scotland regional list. He admitted yesterday he had been sorely tempted to try again.
Instead, the former MP for Ayr said he had decided to stick to his plans to win the Westminster nomination to fight the seat again at the next General Election.
SNP leaders were quick to claim his decision not to stand meant the Tories had effectively conceded defeat in Ayr and questioned their commitment to the Scottish Parliament.
Deputy leader John Swinney MSP said they were obviously suffering from a "strong dose of the jitters" which was compounded by their disastrous performance at UK level.
He also claimed the party was guilty of using the Scottish Parliament as a means to a London end. "When Conservative MPs say they would prefer to sit in the House of Commons, their commitment to making the Scottish Parliament work must surely be questioned."
A Scottish Labour Party spokesman said: "It does not really matter who their candidate is, we will put up a strong fight."
The first by-election of the Parliament, which is expected to take place in March, was caused by the unexpected resignation last month of Labour MSP Ian Welsh, who cited family reasons but later made it clear he was disillusioned with his role as a backbencher
All 18 Tory MSPs were elected through the PR top-up system and the high-profile Mr Gallie was under pressure to stand as the Tories' best hope of winning their first non-list seat.
In a statement yesterday, however, he insisted there were plenty of other quality candidates from the local scene and further afield and the local party would be "spoilt for choice".
Mr Gallie went out of his way to stress the importance of the Scottish Parliament. He emphasised it was here to stay and only total commitment by Unionist MSPs would bring benefit to Scotland.
He also expressed concern at the lack of any Scottish Tory MPs at Westminster and went on: "There is a need to strengthen bonds rather than weaken them."
The woman who beat Mr Gallie at the last General Election, Labour MP Sandra Osborne, said: "I think he is holding the electorate in Ayr in total contempt by too-ing and fro-ing for so long over which Parliament he wants to stand for. Mr Gallie seems to think he is God's gift to the people of Ayr, although they have rejected him on two occasions."
For the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Mr Keith Raffan MSP, said: "Mr Gallie has undoubtedly made a sensible decision from his personal point of view. The trend in all the Scottish opinion polls since May has shown a collapse of the Tory vote by one third.
"Their chances of overturning Labour's majority of 25 are about as much as Mr Gallie winning the lottery or being hit by an asteroid."
- Jan 6 th 2000
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