THE SNP's candidate in a crucial Westminster by-election has said the Peter Murrell scandal has left members with a "sense of betrayal" but remains confident the party can hold onto the seat.
Lara Bird, 28, is campaigning to replace Stephen Gethins in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry having spent the past few years as a foreign affairs and defence researcher for the SNP in London.
It comes at a challenging time for the party after former chief executive Peter Murrell pled guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 in party funds, using it to buy a series of luxury items including a campervan and a Jaguar I-PACE over 12 years.
The court heard this week how Murrell used false invoices and misleading entries on the party's accounting software to cover his tracks.
Bird, who is a qualified barrister, said she had picked up on an "overriding emotion" of "upset and disappointment" among members while knocking on doors.
She told The National: "We’re speaking to a lot of members and supporters and the upset and disappointment they feel as folk who have donated to the party in the past is very much there and that is the overriding emotion we’re picking up.
"I think that’s to be expected because these are people who have donated their wages, who have worked , who have turned out to tombolas and raffles and bake sales and have given their money to a cause they believe in and to further a campaign many of them have spent their whole lives working towards.
"There are good, hard-working, honest people who were taken advantage of by an individual and whose trust was taken advantage of for his [Murrell's] personal gain and that sense of betrayal for members is very much there.
"That’s where my concern is that those folk know that we are on their side and we’re there to support them and we’re getting through this together collectively as the party an as people who care about this cause."
But Bird said despite picking up on this, she does not expect it to have a significant impact on the SNP's vote in the area.
Asked if she expected voters to turn away from the SNP, she said: "I think we will have to wait and see what comes out in a couple of weeks' time. That may be the case but it’s certainly not something we’re anticipating making a significant dent in our vote here, if at all."
She added: "We were expecting more folk to raise it but we haven’t found it to be a huge issue on the door and we’ve been out every single day since I was selected."
Pollster Professor John Curtice told The National this week he was doubtful the Murrell saga would have much of a negative impact on the SNP's campaign.
He described Murrell as a "backroom character" who is "relatively small fry as far as public opinion is concerned".
“You know about him. I know about him. Every journalist knows about him, but for most members of the public – Mr Who right?", said Curtice.
The by-election will take place on June 18, the same day as another one in Aberdeen South following the resignation of Stephen Flynn as an MP.
Both Flynn and Gethins were elected as MSPs at the recent Scottish election.
Bird, who is originally from Angus and still lives in Broughty Ferry, joined the SNP on the back of being a first-time, 16-year-old voter in the 2014 independence referendum.
She said she has been able to build on momentum from the "positive" campaigns run in the area by Gethins and Angus South MSP Lloyd Melville.
She added she wants to be able to give people who are "fed up" with "constant drama" at Westminster someone local they can turn to who can relate to them.
"What we’re finding is that people are just really fed up with Westminster and a lot of people are saying we want to send someone down to Westminster who is going to stand up for this community because I think what’s really cutting through to folk is the constant drama that’s going on at Westminster," Bird said.
"People have really appreciated I am local and know this community and they feel they want to be represented by someone who understands what life is like here rather than decision being made by people who have never been to Arbroath or Broughty Ferry."
She went on: "I’m here because I care about the community and I care about these people and I want to represent them in Westminster and I very much believe in the current government, I believe in the First Minister and the mission and the mandate he has set out and I believe in our responsibility to represent the folk in the constituency if I’m lucky enough to have that opportunity."
