The Tories' biggest problem locally?....Peter Lyburn.

Gordon Brown is'nt the only one making gaffes recently. Local Conservative candidate Peter Lyburn has been sending election communications to non-voting age teenagers at the taxpayers expense, including to the son of our Westminster candidate Peter Barrett, who quickly noted the dubious tactics apparently being used. It is reported today in the Courier and elsewhere. Whether this is indeed a dubious & conscious tactic to increase their mailings, or an administrative blunder, it does not reflect very well on the Tories locally. You expect the Conservatives to be ruthlessly efficient in their administration, but not it seems in Perth and North Perthshire.

Peter Lyburn has been making a string of such mistakes recently, including alienating various business leaders by claiming their support, and falling out with Miss Scotland. In the past, he has famously been quoted as saying that his Scottish Party leader Annabel Goldie is not up to the job. He had some party pics in the Daily Record last week as well which wont be endearing him to the party faithful locally.
He is only 24 years old with next to no working experience. When we say that Peter Barrett is the best candidate in this election in Perth & North Perthshire, it is actually a complete no-brainer when we compare him with Peter Lyburn. He is just a boy really, and it shows.

Bizarrely though, the SNP are not doing very well either, despite having the sitting MP Pete Wishart, and Peter Lyburn could potentially win this seat. Many in his party would consider him the favourite. Imagine a situation where Peter Lyburn was the only Conservative MP returned in Scotland. It could well happen. He would then be effectively the shadow Secretary of State, he might even be the Secretary of State if the Tories win. He would be on TV and radio all the time, making gaffes all the time. The Tories would surely become a laughing stock, probably ruining their chances for another generation.
Maybe it would be a good thing in the long run if Peter Lyburn won this election, as he would give them a dilemma they would find very difficult to manage and other parties, including ourselves, might benefit from that in the longer run. Maybe we should start suggesting to SNP supporters that they should vote tactically for Peter Lyburn. Their votes are wasted anyway. This way they might acheive something for themselves in the longer run. The problem with this of course would be that Perth & North Perthshire would not be effectively represented at a national level.

Voters in this area have 3 choices in this election. A Conservative candidate who will constantly be requiring a baby-sitter, an SNP candidate who will be irrelevant going forwards as he is now, or a hard working and experienced local campaigner who would operate effectively within a strong Liberal Democrat grouping, almost certainly at the heart of a new national government.

If you were wanting the best representation for Perth & North Perthshire, who would you vote for??

With opposition candidates like Peter Lyburn around and the SNP not doing very much, returning a Liberal Democrat MP in this area is entirely possible and we are certainly campaigning with a view to giving ourselves every chance should others choose to throw the opportunity away.