00:00Right, I've got Graeme Ledbetter, the new NSP MP for Moray. How does that feel and sound,
00:08Graeme?
00:09It's a real privilege to represent this fantastic constituency. It's a constituency that stretches
00:16from the Moray coast right up into the Cairngorms as far as Dalbinnie, and from Dufton in the
00:23West all the way to nearly Inverness in the East. It's huge, but it is a beautiful place
00:31with amazing communities from Moray and right up into the Highlands. So it's a real privilege
00:39to be representing that community that have been campaigning for the last six months or
00:46so.
00:47And you've been a local councillor for many years, so you know this area well, and obviously
00:51the new patches of Nairn and Strasse Bay as well, so a feeling of pride on a personal
00:57level?
00:58Yeah, I've been a local councillor for 17 years, and I thoroughly enjoy representing
01:06my constituents, I thoroughly enjoy representing communities and trying to make things better
01:11or at least pick a way through things to try and find a way forward with serious issues
01:17that affect communities all the time. And following a recent spell as leader of the
01:22council, that gave me the courage to put my name in the heart for Westminster and take
01:32those concerns of our communities to Westminster and try and get solutions to those issues
01:39that affect them there.
01:40In general terms, how would you view the result in Scotland for the SNP?
01:44It's been a really tough night for the SNP, undoubtedly. We've lost a huge amount of very
01:50talented individuals who have been doing a fantastic job representing their communities.
01:56This result reflects a desire for people to remove the Tories from office. People are
02:04fed up with Tory austerity, 14 years of hammering public service budgets, the Tory impact of
02:13Brexit, which has been affecting businesses and our care service in particular, the length
02:20of bread to this constituency in which people feel regularly. People's pockets, cost of
02:27living crisis, comes up on the doorsteps all the time, and people are just fed up paying
02:33through the nose for energy at a higher price than anybody else in the UK pays, paying high
02:38prices for food, paying high prices for rent and mortgages. These are the issues that need
02:43to be tackled by the Labour government, and they have a huge majority, so they have opportunity
02:47to do so. It'll be our job as SNP MPs to hold them to account and to hold their feet to
02:53the fire on these issues.
02:55Excellent. Congratulations, Graeme, thank you very much.
02:57Thank you.
Comments