Following East Lothian Labour’s great result in last week’s council elections, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale came to Haddington on Saturday to join our general election candidate Martin Whitfield and our successful council candidates on the campaign trail.

With the SNP losing seats, and falling back into third place in number of councillors, the message from East Lothian voters is clear; they do not want another divisive independence referendum, and are tired of the SNP always pushing East Lothian to the back of queue when it comes to schools, healthcare or public transport.

Labour’s candidate, Martin Whitfield, lives and works (as a teacher) right here in East Lothian. He is the chair of his Community Council, and involved with Rotary, the Cuthill Park Trust and other local projects. Our message at the election is that we oppose a second referendum and will always put East Lothian’s interests first. Martin will be a local champion, not a cheerleader for independence.

Iain Gray MSP said:

“The General Election on June 8th is another chance to send those messages loud and clear to Nicola Sturgeon. We can only do that by electing Martin Whitfield as a Labour MP for East Lothian, and sending the SNP’s George Kerevan packing.

“When he was elected in 2015, it was Labour who were pushing him in second place. Since then, it is Labour who have defeated the SNP in two elections. In 2016, I beat the SNP candidate to be elected again as MSP for East Lothian. Meanwhile, last week in the council elections, Labour polled 13,723 votes, beating the SNP into second place once again.

“In each case, the Tories came in third place in East Lothian, behind both Labour and the SNP. So here in East Lothian all the evidence shows only Labour can beat the SNP. A vote for the Tories will only help the SNP hang on here, and boost Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for another referendum.

“When we elect Martin on June 8th, we will send a powerful message to Nicola Sturgeon that East Lothian does not want another independence referendum, but we will also once again have an MP who will always put East Lothian first.”