Labour is “obsessed” with internal party “drama” Kemi Badenoch said, as she challenged Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers to instead focus on issues such as energy and national security.
The Conservative leader also said her party’s dramatic by-election win in Aberdeen South “sent a message” in favour of more drilling in the North Sea – and she called for the controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank developments to be given the go-ahead.
She said a green light for the projects would boost the UK’s national security, insisting the UK needs to “drill our own oil in the North Sea, not take oil from Russia”.
She also claimed the win helped show the Tories are a “credible alternative to take over from Labour” at the next general election.
“If we can win in Scotland in a seat where we haven’t won a by-election since 1967, we can win anywhere,” she declared.
Her comments came as she claimed Labour and the Prime Minister are “so obsessed about their own party drama that they are not interested in the cost of living, they are not interested in what is happening to people all across this country, what is impacting their lives”.
Mrs Badenoch spoke out during a visit to Aberdeen to celebrate her party’s byelection success, capturing the seat of former SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
The contest was sparked after he switched to Holyrood, winning a seat there in the Scottish Parliament election in May.
An SNP source raised concerns the defeat came because the party’s stance on oil and gas is seen as “weak”, with the SNP vote collapsing from 15,213 in 2024 to just 8,258 on Thursday.
The Conservative Douglas Lumsden won the seat easily with 14,308 votes.
The Tories had focused their campaign on the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry – much of which is based in Aberdeen – making the by-election a “referendum” on the issue.
Speaking in Aberdeen on Friday as she celebrated with Ms Lumsden, Mrs Badenoch said: “What this means is that we have won that referendum on oil and gas.
“Aberdeen has sent a message to the Labour Government and to the SNP that we will not be ignored, Aberdeen will not be ignored, the centre will not be ignored.”
Stressing the importance of energy security to national security, she attacked Labour for its opposition to new oil developments.
“What is happening right now as we kill the oil and gas sector is we are killing our energy security,” she said.
She said the by-election win means “a message has been sent that we do need to drill our own oil in the North Sea, not take oil from Russia or Norway when we have got our own oil right here”.
Urging the Government to back new oil and gas projects, she said: “It is time to lift the ban… let Jackdaw and Rosebank drill, and provide energy and security to this country and to homes all across the UK.”
Highlighting her party’s support for oil and gas, she said the contest in Aberdeen South had been about “thousands” of jobs in the sector.
She contrasted this with the Makerfield by-election also held on Thursday, which Andy Burnham won, paving the way for him to mount a leadership challenge against Sir Keir.
Mrs Badenoch said while much of the focus had been on Makerfield, that contest “was about one man’s job”.
She added: “The Aberdeen South by-election was about thousands of jobs all over the country, but especially in the oil and gas sector.”
Mr Lumsden – who will now have to give up the regional list seat he holds at Holyrood – said he hopes his “seismic victory” will force Labour – which came fourth in Aberdeen South – to “change course on oil and gas”.
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney said he was “very disappointed” his party had lost the seat, adding: “Tactical voting has had a real impact on the result.”
Defeated SNP candidate Richard Thomson said the Tories had “thrown the kitchen sink” at the campaign – with Mrs Badenoch making a number of visits to the area.
“We like not to be out-campaigned, but on this occasion, I think, just the sheer amount of resources that we were up against made it difficult to get the result we’d hoped for,” he said.
The guilty plea of former SNP chief executive – and Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband – Peter Murrell did not “make a bit of difference” to the party’s fortunes in Thursday’s poll, he added.
Murrell last month pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP over 12 years and is due to be sentenced next week.
“If anybody raised it, it was usually an indication that they weren’t voting SNP anyway,” Mr Thomson said.
The SNP did hold Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, with Lara Bird taking the seat vacated by Stephen Gethins who, like Mr Flynn, quit Westminster for Holyrood.
Ms Bird – a lawyer and SNP adviser – won 9,802 votes in Thursday’s contest, with Reform’s Bill Reid second with 4,841.
Speaking to the Press Association, Ms Bird said: “It was obviously the Tories’ night up in Aberdeen this evening, and obviously that’s a disappointing result for us.
“But the circumstances are very different. I’m just delighted for what we were able to achieve here in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.”
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