MORAY LABOUR PARTY has revealed their candidate contesting the Elgin City North by-election on July 13.
Nick Taylor will contest the seat vacated by the resignation of Sandy Cooper just a few days after being elected last month.
In a statement prepared for insideMoray, Mr Taylor said: “Mr Cooper betrayed the trust of those who voted for him, and has put the Moray community to the enormous expense and inconvenience of running a by-election. However, misfortune can be turned to opportunity.
“I have the honour of having been selected as the Scottish Labour candidate for Elgin City North for the local by-election. I urge you to support my candidacy.
“If elected I would provide the same good service as my Labour predecessors, loyal public servants engaged at a local level, ensuring that their community got what it needed and deserved. I commit myself to working with other councillors who are committed to the pursuit of progressive policies, and to holding the new administration to account.
“We need to push for policies that are designed to expand local services rather than cutting them.
“These include policies to improve education and training, and chances for young people – expanding services for the elderly and vulnerable, addressing the housing shortage in Moray. Local transport which is run in the interests of the many, rather than for private profit and reform and replacement of the unfair Council Tax, plus the provision of local GP services in the north of Elgin.
“I urge the voters of Elgin North to exercise their civic duty and go to their local polling place once again. Please don’t succumb to voter fatigue. Democracy has its costs, but it also has its rewards.
“While participation in elections is a right, it is also a privilege. We need to use the right regularly to ensure we have good government. To paraphrase Nelson Mandela, foolish men prosper when wise men do nothing.
“Elgin has historically been represented by Labour councillors who provided excellent service in the name of their constituents. In the period following the general election in Scotland, which has seen the country divided by constitutional issues, let us get back to a different politics, one which reflects local issues.
“We need to break down the divide that exists between those who wish to see a socially just Moray, in a socially just Scotland and those who put their own interests before those of the community. We need everyone to work together to rid Moray of poverty and disadvantage, and to promote opportunities for all.
“The pursuit of individual interests and selfishness does not make for strong communities. And we cannot wait for the UK government or the Scottish government to solve our problems.
“There are many social and economic issues that need to be addressed at a local level. There is much that can be done. There is much that needs to be done to create a Scotland and Moray that are run for the many, not the few.
“Let us be ambitious and optimistic. Let us ditch the failed policies of austerity, the spreadsheet and the calculator, and build a community that works for everyone.
“I urge you to vote Scottish Labour on Thursday, 13 July, 2017.”