Alex Salmond's Tough Race For Westminster

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 April 2015 | 23.39

Being Alex Salmond. More than anything else, it's what has made him the bookies' favourite to take the Gordon constituency.

Salmond's opponents, too, acknowledge that the recognition factor puts momentum behind Scotland's former First Minister.

Sure, there has been an SNP surge Scotland-wide but this Aberdeenshire constituency has been impenetrable Liberal Democrat territory since it was created in 1983. 

The Salmond factor will be key in carrying him over the line if the SNP is, indeed, to win here.

It is a prosperous part of Scotland, stretching north from Aberdeen.

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Up the coast, I stood on the 18th tee of Trump International Golf Course, where the 360 degree view takes in the wealth generators: farmland, business in the city of Aberdeen and, at sea, the supply vessels of the North Sea Gas industry that's brought big money in with the tide.

Alex Salmond's biggest threat here is the tactical vote.

The people of Gordon voted two-to-one against Scottish independence in last September's referendum. 

They listen, like everyone else, to the mood music of an SNP campaign that increasingly sounds like the party will push for 'Indyref 2' as soon as it thinks it'll win it. 

In this corner of Aberdeenshire, the notion doesn't necessarily sit well with the majority, and has given birth to the Stop Salmond vote.

Liberal Democrat candidate Christine Jardine told Sky News she is benefiting from pro-Union opinion that's steering voters towards her, whatever their party of first-choice.

She says: "People are telling me on the doorsteps that they haven't voted Liberal Democrat before but they will this time because they feel it's a straight two-horse race between me and Alex Salmond."

There is another main contender in the fight for the Stop Salmond vote, however: Conservative candidate Colin Clark, who told Sky News: "Gordon is a constituency which is a conservative with a small c and Alex Salmond is a socialist with a large s.

"This is really alien territory for him - it's not a constituency of grievance, it's a constituency of hard work."

Labour candidate Braden Davy said: "He is the establishment for people my age in Scotland. I'm not keen on his record: he seems to put his main campaign as division, the dividing of the UK."

There's no doubt that Mr Salmond would be a prominent member of an SNP group at Westminster post-election, perhaps sitting on Nicola Sturgeon's shoulder as she lays down her demands of an Ed Miliband minority administration. 

He told Sky News: "The agenda of the team in Westminster is to move away from austerity, is to get a better deal for Scotland, is to identify progressive politics that can be pursued across these islands."

There is much to the election battle in Gordon and a lot of it extends beyond the constituency boundary.

If Mr Salmond wins the seat, it will give him the platform to work towards his party's ambitions - Scottish independence chief among them.

The question at this election isn't just: what can he do for Gordon... but what can Gordon do for him.

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