Scottish Labour candidate Davy Russell for the Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election has said he is “not running scared” of the other candidates.
Russell had been accused of being the “invisible man” and “running scared” from his opponents after he refused to take part in an STV debate ahead of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on June 5.
Over on TikTok, Reform candidate Ross Lambie joked that Russell had become “the invisible man” and accused him of “hiding from scrutiny and TV debates”.
The social media video showed him on the hunt for the Scottish Labour candidate in the constituency with Queen’s The Invisible Man playing alongside the caption, “Where’s Davy?”.
The Scottish Labour candidate has also admittedly done very few televised interviews with the media.
It was also insinuated that the Labour party may have had concerns about Russell’s ability to speak live on TV after his contributions to a social media video posted by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray had to be heavily edited last week.
However, Russell was keen to clear the air on Wednesday afternoon.
He told STV News that he was “certainly not” the invisible man in the Hamilton by-election campaign, and he denied that he was “running scared”.
“I can take you to any area in this constituency and I am better known than any of the other candidates,” he said.
“I made a conscious decision that I’d go back to grassroots and fight on the doorstep, listen to people’s concerns and the real issues that affect them. Its ok doing a debate that goes to whole of Scotland, but really you’re not listening to people.”
Russell said he’s been chapping doors and talking to people on their doorstep. According to him, the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse appreciate it.
“There was one door I went to the other day and the man says ‘The last person to chap my door was George Robertson’. How long ago was he MP for this area?” Russell said.
Denying that he’s the “invisible man”, Russell said his opponents are “not actually chapping doors to any significant amount”.
He said they’ve done “plenty of leaflet posting”, but accused them of “not actually speaking to people”.
“[Talking to people] is more appreciated than a TV debate. Come with me and you’ll see what I’m talking about,” Russell said.
Full list of candidates
| Candidate name | Party |
| Collette Bradley | Scottish Socialist Party |
| Andy Brady | Scottish Family Party |
| Ross Alexander Lambie | Reform UK |
| Katy Loudon | Scottish National Party (SNP) |
| Janice Elizabeth Mackay | UK Independence Party (UKIP) |
| Ann McGuinness | Scottish Green Party |
| Aisha Jawaid Mir | Scottish Liberal Democrats |
| Richard Nelson | Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party |
| Davy Russell | Scottish Labour Party |
| Marc Wilkinson | Independent |
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
