Ian Murray had a very strong message to Jeremy Corbyn, the Prime Minister and the people who voted for him.
Murray won a majority of 11,095 which was down a few thousand on his 2017 margin. The turnout in Edinburgh South was 75.3%.
The results were as follows :
Alan Beal Scottish Liberal Democrats 3,819 votes
Nick Cook Scottish Conservative and Unionist 8,161 votes
Catriona MacDonald 12,650 votes
Ian Murray Scottish Labour Party 23,745 votes
Kate Nevens Scottish Green Party 1,357 votes
Ian Murray said in his acceptance speech : “Returning officer Andrew, thank you for conducting the count this evening and thank you to all the police and polling agents the campaign agents for on a very wintry pre-Christmas coming out with council officals. They do this every two years. So thank you very much indeed for that.
“Can I just say a huge thank you to the best campaigning team in Britain. My campaign team have knocked on thousands, tens of thousands of doors to deliver this victory for Labour tonight.
“So thank you very much, particularly Hannah, Emma, Lewis Lesley and Shona And also, thank you to Marion. These election campaigns are hardest on those that are closest to you. So thank you for your support, your love and for keeping us on track during these long, dark nights.
“It’s been a very good natured campaign. Thank you to the other candidates, despite the spurious letters, the Conservative candidate fighting for second place. It’s been a good natured campaign. And I thank them all for that for being great candidates.
“Tonight’s been a difficult night for the Labour Party. I’m sick of standing at lecterns during general election campaigns and saying it’s been a difficult night for the Labour Party.
“This party must listen and this party must respond or this party will die. The saddest indictment of this General Election campaign is the delivery of the Conservative majority government with the worst Prime Minister this country has ever seen. That is a sad indictment.
“And we’re not just letting down the Labour party, we’re letting down the millions of people right across the four islands of this wonderful nation by not even having a credible opposition, let alone a credible alternative government.
“So for the sake of the Labour movement, for the sake of the Labour Party but more importantly for the sake of the country, not only does the person have to go, but the policy and the ideology has to go as well.
“People told us on the doorstep what the problem was, and we didn’t respond. I have said directly to Jeremy and I say it again now. If you don’t want to listen to your colleagues and the other people in the Labour movement, the public will have their say and they have had their say tonight, and that say is not pretty because it lets down the millions of people who are so desperate for a Labour government in this country.
“I leave my last comments for the wonderful colleagues that have lost their seats tonight who’ve represented millions of people across this country, close friends, close colleagues, and people who’ve given their life for public service. It’s been catastrophic.
“I’ve always been principled. I’ve always stood up for what I believed in, whether constituents have agreed with me or not, they know I have always been honest and we can always agree to disagree. So the biggest thanks for the people of Edinburgh South, thank you for putting your trust in me again, whether you voted for me or not, whether you voted at all. I’ll always be on your side.
“And finally, thank you for making it a very Murray Christmas.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
