Jim Murphy Reconfirms He'll Stand For Westminster

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy said he wants to "contribute to making sure the Tories are kept out of East Renfrewshire and Downing Street'', as he reconfirmed his candidacy for the general election.

The current MP for East Renfrewshire was unanimously reselected by the party for the Westminster seat in November 2013 but has come under pressure to clarify whether he intends to stand following his appointment as Scottish Labour leader in December.

Mr Murphy said: As I have said many times before, I am the Labour candidate for East Renfrewshire against the Tories in May and Labour's candidate for First Minister in 2016. We have had a really good response on the doorsteps in recent weeks.

We need to do everything we can to stop the Tories being the largest party. I want to contribute to making sure the Tories are kept out of East Renfrewshire and Downing Street.''

Mr Murphy was first elected to the seat in 1997 - the year Tony Blair and New Labour swept into Downing Street - when the Eastwood constituency, as it was then known, had the largest Conservative majority in Scotland.

At the last general election Labour won 41 seats in Scotland but recent polls point to large gains by the SNP across the country this year.

A TNS poll published today showed support for the SNP at 46% while Labour trails on 30% ahead of the May vote.

Mr Murphy said: The choice facing voters in East Renfrewshire is much the same as the one facing the rest of Scotland - it's between Labour and the Tories.

Any seat the SNP take makes it more likely the Tories are the largest party and David Cameron returns to power by the back door.''

Conservative candidate for East Renfrewshire David Montgomery said: The voters in East Renfrewshire deserve better than an MP who has already got one foot out of the door.

We also know that, if elected, Mr Murphy won't be focused on representing the local interest of people here at Westminster. My pledge to voters is to be their full time MP, putting their local interests first.''