Election / Labour confirms Shetland candidate for Scottish elections
SCOTTISH Labour has confirmed its candidate for the Shetland seat at the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary election.
John Erskine will stand for the party, as reported by Shetland News last month, at the elections in May 2026.
His selection led to local Labour Party chairman Stephen Leask to stand down, after his calls for a local candidate to be picked instead were turned down.
Erskine becomes the third person to officially throw their hat into the ring for the Shetland seat, behind Emma Macdonald for the Liberal Democrats and Hannah Mary Goodlad for SNP.
He previously stood for election in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch in 2021, and is currently placed second on Scottish Labour’s regional list for the Highlands and Islands.
Raised in the Highlands, Erskine said he has a strong record of campaigning across the region and brings extensive professional experience – having previously worked as an adviser to Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant.
He also served as the party’s spokesperson for energy, connectivity and the islands in Anas Sarwar’s campaign cabinet during the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections.
Erskine said he was “proud” to have been selected to stand for Labour in Shetland.
“Islanders and communities across the Highlands and Islands have been let down by this SNP government,” he said.
The choice at this election is clear: a third decade of a tired government that has run out of steam, or a Scottish Labour Government that shares your ambitions and will work every day to make life better for people in Shetland and across Scotland.”
He pointed to issues such as “housing shortages” and “ferries don’t run”, saying that islanders “know all too well that things simply don’t work after two decades of the SNP”.
“Scottish Labour will fix the NHS, clear the backlogs and end the 8am rush for a GP,” he said.
“We’ll tackle the housing crisis with affordable homes in rural and island communities. We’ll support our high streets and grow the local and regional economy. We’ll bring back community policing and make sure islanders feel safe.
“And we’ll deliver a proper plan for energy transition, investing in renewables and GB Energy, but protecting good oil and gas jobs as part of a just transition that Shetland must be at the heart of.
“Only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP and deliver the change Shetland, the Highlands and Islands and Scotland needs.”
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