Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch traveled to Aberdeen on Friday to campaign in the upcominng Aberdeen South by-election, where she accused the Scottish National Party and Labour of waging a 'war' on North Sea drilling that is costing the region 1,000 oil and gas jobs every month. In a speech ahead of the June 18 vote, Badenoch called the policies 'madness' and said Britain is 'turning the taps off on our own oil and gas production just at a time when we need it most ,' according to the Conservative leader's remarks as reported by the source article.

1,000 jobs a month: the human cost of North Sea policy

According to Badenoch, the oil and gas industry is shedding 1,000 jobs per month on average, with most of those losses concentrated in places like Aberdeen. She described the industry as 'the economic lifeblood of the North East' and argued that the Labour government's windfall tax and ban on new drilling licences, backed by the SNP, are 'doing serious harm to Aberdeen.' The source article reports that Badenoch met with local residents affected by the industry's decline and stressed that the job losses are 'hollowing out communities and making our country poorer.' This figure — 1,000 jobs a month — underscores the immediate economic toll of a policy shift that the government argues is necessary for the energy transition.

4.7 billion barrels in West of Shetland — and a political fight over Rosebank

Badenoch pointed to new research from the University of Aberdeen showing 4.7 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves in the West of Shetland area alone, including the contested Rosebank oil field. Both the SNP and Labour, she said, have 'conspired to stop us exploiting' those resources. The Conservative leader framed the choice as one between domestic energy production and reliance on foreign suppliers, accusing Labour of 'choosing to buy oil and gas from Russia, instead of drilling it from our own oil and gas fields in the North Sea.' The claim that Britain is importing Russian energy — a reversal of Conservative-era policy supporting Ukraine — is a central point of contention, though the source article does not provide independent verification.

The by-election on June 18 as a referendum on oil and gas

With the Aberdeen South by-election set for June 18, Badenoch positioned the vote as a direct choice over energy policy. She urged voters to elect Conservative candidate Douglas Lumsden, a former oil and gas industry worker, warning that any other vote 'risks the Nationalists winning by default.' The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the previous SNP MP, and Badenoch argued it is a chance to 'send a message to John Swinney and Keir Starmer' that the 'war on domestic oil and gas must end.' The source article notes that the Conservatives are fighting to save the industry with a platform that would end the ban on new licences and scrap the windfall tax, which Badenoch calls 'crushing' for UK energy production.

Buying Russian oil: the energy security paradox

One of the most striking claims in Badenoch's speech is that Labour's energy policy has forced Britain to buy oil and gas from Russia — a nation whose invasion of Ukraine the UK has condemned. The source article quotes her calling it 'a repugnant decision that reverses years of solid support for Ukraine under the Conservatives.' This framing ties domestic energy policy directly to foreign policy, suggesting that the North Sea drilling ban undermines both economic security and geopolitical credibility. however, the source provides no data on the volume or value of such Russian imports, leaving a significant open question about the scale and verifiability of the claim. What remains unclear is whether the government's alternative — accelerating renewable investment — can compensate for lost oil jobs without deepening energy dependence on unstable regimes.