Tories beat SNP in Aberdeen South after relentless North Sea oil campaign
The Conservatives secured 14,308 votes against the Scottish National Party’s 8,258 in the by-election. The victory offers a rare boost for leader Kemi Badenoch, who centered the campaign on supporting North Sea oil and gas drilling.
The Conservative Party has won the Aberdeen South by-election with 14,308 votes, defeating the Scottish National Party (SNP) which received 8,258 votes. The result is a rare positive development for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, whose party lost national power in 2024 and now faces competition from the right by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
During the campaign, the Tories heavily emphasized the issue of drilling in the North Sea, turning the by-election into a referendum on the industry. Badenoch has shifted the party sharply away from green policies, abandoning net-zero targets previously set by her party and embracing the oil and gas sector. “The industry is the economic lifeblood of the north east,” Badenoch stated during the campaign, attacking the Labour government’s “ban on new drilling, backed by the SNP.”
