The SNP have announced that Angus Robertson MP (pictured) and Bruce Crawford MSP are to lead the SNP’s election campaign team for the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections.
Moray MP and Westminster leader Angus Robertson will manage the 2011 campaign as the party’s campaign co-ordinator, returning to the role he successfully fulfilled in 2007 which saw the election of the first ever SNP Government. Bruce Crawford will continue as the party’s Business Convener a move which sees the leading figures from the 2007 campaign back at the heart of the party’s campaign planning.
In the run up to the SNP’s annual conference which takes place in Perth next week, the party have announced that it intends to contact 1 million voters.
Confirming Mr Robertson’s appointment SNP leader and Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said:
“Angus Robertson played a key role at the heart of the SNP’s campaign in 2007, leading our day to day efforts and helping revolutionise campaigning in Scotland. As we look to the 2011 election the return of Angus Robertson as campaign manager sees that experience and success back at the centre of our plans.”
Commenting on his appointment Angus Robertson MP said:
“It is a privilege to be asked to lead the campaign to see the election of an SNP Government for a second term and we are getting straight down to business.
“As a sign of our determination to put the people of Scotland at the heart of this campaign the SNP will be contacting at least one million voters in the coming week to hear their views on Scotland’s future and their priorities for the next Scottish Government.
“We enter this contest from a strong position with Scotland’s only credible First Minister and an experienced team from Cabinet to our hardworking MSPs and community campaigners.”
Mr Robertson revealed that new campaign methods would be employed by the SNP and argued that the choice facing Scots was ‘economic growth’ under the SNP or a ‘dismal decade of cuts’ at the hands of a London based party.
Mr Robertson added:
“And once again we will move politics in Scotland forward another gear with new campaign methods and new technology.
“The people of Scotland have a clear choice. And I am confident they will choose the experience and ambition of Scotland’s Party, the SNP, over any of the London based parties.
“Since 2007 much has been achieved. Waiting times in the NHS are at a record low. Over 300 schools have been built or substantially refurbished. There are over 1000 extra police on our streets and as a result, crime rates are at a 30 year low. And of course the Council Tax has been frozen now for three years, protecting family budgets.
“There is still more to do. That is why we will be campaigning for the changes that will allow Scotland to deliver economic growth and an alternative to London’s dismal decade of cuts. And that is why we will put the people of Scotland at the heart of our activities, inviting them to join us and be part of making Scotland the better nation we all know it can be.”