Wick Wants Work statement on Caithness, Sutherland & Ross Election

Follwing the announcement yesterday of the Election to Holyrood of Rob Gibson as the constituency MSP for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross, the Wick Wants Work Campaign would like to extend our congratulations to Rob, who, as a major plank in an excellent campaign, made his support both for the 20 staff in Wick HMRC, and the wider Wick Wants Work campaign, very public, and raised the profile of both considerably, for which we are very grateful.

Rob Gibson, the new Member of the Scottish Parliament for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross,  pictured alongside the other candidates at the recent "Wick Wants Work" Hustings in Wick Assembly Rooms

The other candidates in the election, John Mackay, Edward Mountain and Robbie Rowantree, were also vocal in their support, and we commend each one of them on fighting good, clean campaigns in the purest of spirits.  We hope their support for the campaign will continue as active citizens, councillors and members of the community, and we wish them well.


The Holyrood elections have done much to focus minds on the Caithness economy, and we cannot let the increased profile of the campaign diminish.  The unprecedented result, both in terms of a massive swing in the Caithness, Sutherland & Ross constituency and across Scotland as a whole, reflect a strong tide of public opinion in Scotland against the Westminster coalition Government and its austerity measures, and across Scotland, SNP candidates made clear their support for a Tax Justice agenda that would ensure fairness for all, and for a growth based strategy to tackle the economic downturn.


Keeping the Wick Tax Office open, and investing in sustainable jobs in Caithness, would contribute to both of these goals, and we will shortly be writing to Rob and the First Minister, Alex Salmond, who was also a vocal supporter of the Campaign, highlighting this and asking them to outline how they intend to help progress the Campaign's goals.