John Erskine Labour Candidate For the Highlands and Islands

2nd December 2015

John Erskine, a Policy and Parliamentary Researcher to Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale MSP and the Scottish Labour Candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross at this years UK General Election is launching his campaign to become a Scottish Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands at next Mays Scottish Parliament elections.

John Erskine who was born in Inverness and grew up in Ross Shire, attending both Maryburgh Primary School and Dingwall Academy first sought election at the Highland Council elections in 2012, before going on to work for the Highlands and Islands Scottish Labour MSPs for three years based in Inverness. He most recently stood for Westminster at this years General Election.

John Erskine now works for Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale MSP and Opportunity spokesperson and former party leader Iain Gray MSP, as a policy and parliamentary researcher in the Scottish Parliament.

Announcing his candidacy John Erskine said:Scottish Labour need a fresh start in the Highlands and Islands.

It can no longer be business as usual for Scottish Labour in the Highlands and Islands or in Edinburgh and this is why I am standing for the regional list.

I want people across the region to take a fresh look at Scottish Labour and we need progressive ideas and a new generation to lead Scottish Labour in the next Parliament. The theme of our conference in Perth only weeks ago was 'Change' and this is the message I want to put forward both to party members and also voters across the Highlands and Islands.

We need to shake up the Labour Party in the Highlands and Islands and inject fresh ideas and bring a renewed enthusiasm to the party in the region.

Just as we have seen with the elections of Kezia Dugdale and Jeremy Corbyn in recent months, there is a new politics and a thirst for fresh faces and new ideas. This is why Im seeking support across the region to represent voters and Scottish Labour in the Highlands and Islands.

I want to put our local communities across the Highlands and Islands at the heart of everything I do. Too many decisions and too many services have been centralised by the SNP Government. The SNP have failed to deliver on education, failed to deliver on protecting our NHS and have failed to put delivering social justice ahead of trying to deliver constitutional change. Nicola has said the SNP should be judged on their record, and I certainly will along with the people of the Highlands and Islands, who have been badly let down by them.

It's time for a fresh start for Scottish Labour, and a fresh start for the Highlands and Islands.