Russell insists he'd rather talk to his local constituents than the media

LABOUR'S Holyrood hopeful Davy Russell has insisted he will be the party's next MSP, claiming he is the only one listening to voters.

- BY HANNAH RODGER

The candidate for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse was campaigning alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar yesterday, surrounded by some of the party's most senior figures.

Russell has been accused of being absent on the campaign by rivals and some detractors within Labour have suggested the party selected the wrong person to stand for the seat.

He has turned down a live TV debate against the SNP and Reform tomorrow and failed to appear on BBC's series of candidate interviews last week.

But Russell said it was more important to listen to people in the constituency than speak to the media. He said: "[I've been out] chapping doors every day, four sessions a day, half past nine in the morning and finishing at nine o'clock at night. I also live here.

"The response in the doorsteps has been tremendous but the opposition haven't been chapping doors. Reform have been putting leaflets through but they're not speaking to people, they're not listening and that's the difference I'm making."

Russell, an avid karaoke fan, joked that his song would be Del Shannon's The Answer to Everything which features the lyrics, 'Don't ask me a mountain of questions'.

Asked if he was uncomfortable with media appearances Russell said: “That doesn’t bother me but the people have been ignored for far too long.