'Disinterested' Scottish Labour pick candidate from English council 500 miles away

LABOUR have picked a councillor from an English council 500 miles away to be the party’s candidate in a Scottish constituency.

Elizabeth Carr-Ellis has been picked to stand in the new Angus and Perthshire Glens constituency at the upcoming General Election – despite currently being a councillor in Canterbury, Kent, The Courier first revealed.

The ancient English city is around 500 miles from the constituency she hopes to represent.

Angus and Perthshire Glens will also be contested by the SNP’s Dave Doogan (below), who is currently the MP for Angus, and Tory MSP Stephen Kerr, who briefly represented Stirling in the UK Parliament.

Labour came finished last in the Angus seat at the most recent General Election, garnering just 2051 votes and reportedly losing their deposit.

Carr-Ellis’s selection has been described as “deeply insulting” and the Tories have said it shows Labour are “disinterested” in the area.

Doogan told The Courier: “It’s clear as day that Labour are taking the people of Scotland for granted yet again – so much as that even their own members in Scotland can’t get behind Keir Starmer’s pro-Brexit, pro-austerity Labour Party.

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“It’s deeply insulting that Labour expect the people of Angus and Perthshire Glens to vote for someone who just last week expressed their excitement at representing a council ward in the South of England for the next three years.

“While voters are desperate to get rid of this cruel Tory government, they are also deeply unimpressed with Keir Starmer’s list of broken promise – people in Scotland know that only the SNP will put them first and make their Scotland’s voice heard at Westminster.”

A Scottish Tory spokesperson said: “Only a vote for Stephen Kerr and the Scottish Conservatives will keep the SNP out in Angus and Perthshire Glens.

“Any pro-UK votes for other parties will only elect an SNP MP.”

The Courier reported it had received no confirmation that Carr-Ellis would move to the constituency for the General Election campaign or if she would resign her council role if elected.

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The paper added that Carr-Ellis was a former journalist who described herself as a Geordie and previously worked at The Scotsman and the Sunday Herald. She is thought to have lived in Edinburgh around 20 years ago.

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Scottish Labour is committed to giving people across Scotland the chance to kick the Tories out of Downing Street and take on the divided and chaotic SNP.”