A PROMINENT SNP candidate has been branded a “laughing stock” after he told voters at a hustings last night that he was standing in another seat.
John Nicolson, the challenger in Tory-held Ochil & South Perthshire, was booed after declaring that only he could win in East Dunbartonshire.
Mr Nicolson, a former TV reporter and pundit, was the MP for East Dunbartonshire from 2015 to 2017, when he was beaten by Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson.
However an embarrassing video shows him forgetting that he has since switched seats.
He blamed a "slip of the tongue".
Mr Nicolson, who still gives his address as East Dunbartonshire, has already been accused of being 'parachuted' into the new constituency.
Speaking at a hustings in Alloa town hall last night, he told his audience: “Please trust me with your vote on December the 12th.
“As you know, only the Scottish National party can beat the Tories here in East Dunbartonshire."
Despite boos and jeers from the crowd, he appeared oblivious to his mistake.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “John Nicolson is now a laughing stock.”
"It's well known he was parachuted in to Ochil and South Perthshire last month by Nicola Sturgeon. You'd think by know that he would have worked out where he was.
“People have had enough of SNP placemen thinking they can walk in with a God-given right to a seat. In two weeks’ time, voters in Ochil and South Perthshire can tell Mr Nicolson to go home and think again - assuming he can find his way there."
The SNP's Ochil and South Perthshire candidate John Nicolson literally doesn't know where he's standing in this election.
— David Clegg (@davieclegg) November 27, 2019
Here he is in Alloa town hall last night referring to "East Dunbartonshire". And people said he was a carpet-bagger... pic.twitter.com/M7CgFrMyBB
The SNP's Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh won Ochil & South Perthshire in 2015, then lost it to Tory Luke Graham in 2019.
Mr Graham is defending a majority of 3,359 votes, making his seat one of the SNP's top targets in the general election.
In a statement, Mr Nicolson said: “I made a slip of the tongue. We’re all human.
"On December 12th voters in Ochil and South Perthshire will face the choice between a Tory candidate prepared to do whatever Boris Johnson tells him - trading away Scotland’s NHS to Donald Trump and taking Scotland out of the EU. Or an SNP candidate who will act to protect Scotland from Boris Johnson and ensure we have a choice over our future.”
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