Voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse will head to the polls on Thursday for the first by-election of this Scottish Parliament. Heckle reached out by email to three progressive and pro-independence candidates to ask them about their campaign priorities, the rise of the far-right and the impasse faced by the independence movement.
In this article, you can read answers from Katy Loudon, standing for the Scottish National Party. You can click here to read the answers from Green candidate Ann McGuinness and click here to read the answers from SSP candidate Collette Bradley.
What are the key issues for you in this by-election campaign?
People across this constituency have been let down by the Labour Party both nationally and locally.
At a national level, the Labour Party took away the Winter Fuel Payment from 900,000 Scottish pensioners – 36,000 of whom live in South Lanarkshire, cut £5 billion worth of support to disabled people and presided over soaring energy bills despite promising to bring them down by £300.
Locally, Labour-run South Lanarkshire Council has implemented a £45 Garden Waste Charge while removing school bus provision from 8,000 secondary school pupils. I am proud to say that as a local Councillor I opposed these moves at every turn, and would continue to do so if elected as an MSP.
The SNP Scottish Government however always wants what is best for Scotland and is taking action on what matters to people. From St Andrew’s Day this year, all pensioners will receive the Winter Fuel Payment – with the poorest getting the most. We are also working towards scrapping the abhorrent two child cap for good while keeping key costs low for Scots with lower water bills than the rest of the UK and scrapping peak rail fares.
How do you propose to tackle the rise of the far-right in Scotland?
The likes of Nigel Farage have absolutely no place in Scottish politics.
His divisive rhetoric and poisonous political opportunism are nothing more than attempts to stoke division and distract from the real challenges facing every day Scots.
Farage is someone who offers simple solutions and scapegoats to complex problems, and instead of working to address them he uses extreme language to get attention.
But the truth is, there are few people more responsible for the cost of living crisis.
As the chief architect of Brexit, his political project has cost the UK Economy £140 billion. This means that the average person is £2,000 worse off than they otherwise would be.
People across Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse feel this every day in higher prices; all in aid of something Scotland never voted for.
Let’s be clear, Farage doesn’t care about Scotland. Instead of trying to capitalise on those who feel let down by 14 years of austerity and Labour’s broken promises, he should be apologising to the people of Scotland for the harm he has caused.
In this by-election, only the SNP is confronting Farage by taking action on the issues facing people across Scotland, and that is what we will continue to do.
What way forward do you see for the independence movement in light of Starmer’s refusal to hold a second referendum?
The founding principle of the Scottish National Party is that Scotland’s future is brightest as an independent country.
With the full powers of an independent nation, inside the European Union, we can build a fairer, more prosperous Scotland for everyone; where decisions are made in Scotland, for Scotland, by Scotland.
I am so proud to be standing as the SNP’s candidate in this by-election, having joined the SNP in 2014 at the time of the referendum.
I, and the SNP, remain committed to that gold standard – a referendum in which Scots can vote to determine their future.
In government, the SNP is working towards that everyday by delivering on what matters and offering hope for a better future.
SNP policies like free prescriptions, free tuition, free bus travel for 2.3 million people and mitigating the worst of Westminster’s policies like the Bedroom Tax, we are showing what is possible, even within very limited powers.
That is how we offer hope for a better future and persuade people of the merits of Scottish independence, and that is what we will continue to do. I am deeply committed to playing my part in that journey if I am elected as the next MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
- The Scottish Parliament by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse takes place on Thursday 5 June 2025. There are 10 candidates running in total.
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