Labour is recommending activists in Aberdeen make two-hour long, 90 mile trips to campaign in a key Fife constituency.
The party’s website suggests volunteers across the north-east should journey to Dunfermline and Dollar, a top target seat, instead of canvassing locally.
That’s despite the fact a bombshell poll this week put Labour on 39% in Scotland – ten points ahead of the SNP – and suggested the party could even unseat Dundee-born Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
Labour’s website allows volunteers to put in their postcode, so they can find out where they are best placed to help the party during the election campaign.
Someone who lives on Union Grove, in Mr Flynn’s Aberdeen patch, will be told to travel all the way to Dunfermline and Dollar instead.
Three Fife constituencies currently held by the SNP will all be key targets for Labour when voters go to the polls on July 4.
Local Councillor Graeme Downie is contesting the Dunfermline seat for the party and is expected to win based on current polling.
The party also has a strong chance of victory in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, currently represented by Alba MP Neale Hanvey.
Melanie Ward, the boss of a top Palestinian aid charity, has been picked to run in that constituency.
She replaced previous candidate Wilma Brown, who was ditched by the party for liking highly offensive social media posts.
Former Labour MSP Richard Baker is fighting to oust the SNP in Glenrothes and Mid Fife, where First Minister John Swinney was campaigning on Saturday.
The areas covered by the three constituencies were all strongly pro-Labour before the party was almost wiped out in Scotland by the SNP in 2015.
It’s a similar picture elsewhere across the north-east for where activists are being urged to go.
Labour supporters who live in Fraserburgh or Elgin are also told to make the long journey to Dunfermline instead of leafleting locally.
The Labour Party told us the volunteering tool is not widely used by activists, who are more often directed to a page which allows them to find local campaign events.
A spokesperson said the recommendations for long-distance travel were specifically aimed at targeting the most marginal constituencies in the country.
They added that Labour members are regularly given details about campaigning from their local branches.
‘Massive humiliation’
But Aberdeen North SNP MP Kirsty Blackman claimed Labour asking volunteers to go all the way to Fife was a “massive humiliation” for candidates in the north-east.
Aberdeen South Tory candidate John Wheeler said: “Labour have clearly prioritised Fife seats over those in the north-east.
“The SNP forgot about the north-east a long time ago – years before their disastrous coalition with the Greens.”
The Labour Party said it remains determined to fight for every seat in Scotland.
A spokesperson said: “Scottish Labour is fighting in every single part of the country to deliver the change that Scotland needs.
“The people of Aberdeen have been badly let down by this chaotic Tory government and by SNP MPs who have put the party interest ahead of the national interest.
“No SNP or Tory seat is safe – change is possible and Scottish Labour is fighting to deliver it.”
Conversation