 | 'John Swinney, the former SNP leader, said the failure of Mrs Scanlon to identify herself as a Tory in the letter was "a tactic of the political gutter"..' Evening News, 8 th April 2006. |  |
| 'John Swinney, the former SNP leader, said the failure of Mrs Scanlon to identify herself as a Tory in the letter was "a tactic of the political gutter"..' Evening News, 8 th April 2006. | |
TEMPERS flared on the campaign trail yesterday after the SNP accused the Tories of using the memory of Margaret Ewing to further their own cause in the Moray by-election.
The row centres on a letter sent out to constituents by Mary Scanlon, the Tory candidate, in which she associated herself with the last holder of the seat, the popular Scottish Nationalist, Mrs Ewing.
She wrote: "We owe it to Margaret to choose a successor who will fight for the people of Moray as tirelessly as she did."
John Swinney, the former SNP leader, said the failure of Mrs Scanlon to identify herself as a Tory in the letter was "a tactic of the political gutter".
"The impression she gives of being a close associate of Margaret, who is capable of taking forward Margaret's political legacy, is tawdry and deceitful," he added.
But the Tories dismissed the claim as "relentless negativity", prompted by increasing nerves about the Tory vote.
The party insisted Mrs Scanlon is well known as a Tory.
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