What have the SNP and Labour candidates said in the Hamilton and Rutherglen West by-election race?

Rutherglen and Hamilton West SNP local candidate, Katy Loudon.

It follows the ousting of disgraced former MP Margaret Ferrier.

Scotland's next MP will be decided in one week at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.Voters go to the polls on October 5, with both Labour and the SNP vying to win in the seat formerly held by Margaret Ferrier, following the recall petition against her.

Michael Shanks is running for Labour, and is a modern studies teacher originally from Ayrshire. Having worked for a charity which helps children at risk of offending after university, the 35-year-old then retrained as a teacher.

Also from Ayrshire is the SNP candidate Katy Loudon, a 43-year-old former primary school teacher who went on to become the councillor for Cambuslang East in 2017.

Thomas Kerr is running for the Scottish Conservatives, and the 27-year-old is currently the group leader of the Conservatives at the City Chambers.

The candidates have all accused each other of not speaking out enough on certain issues, and have diverged if not in their approaches, but how closely they follow the party line.

On the two-child benefit and so-called bedroom tax, Mr Shanks has split from the view offered by the central Labour party, saying he would go against them.

He said: “I don’t think the bedroom tax is a good idea and I would be campaigning against that. But the reality is we’re going to inherit an economic mess from the Conservative party and it’s right that an incoming Labour government is responsible with fiscal policy. I will campaign for the abolishment of both these things because they are heinous policies.”

Ms Loudon also opposes the two-child benefit cap, and vowed to introduce a Private Members bill within the first 100 days of becoming an MP.She said: "This is a simple, yet crucial, act that would show constituents that I am willing to not only stand up for them, but protect the most vulnerable in our society.

“If the Labour Party in Scotland is serious about tackling child poverty they should have no reservations about publicly backing my plans to introduce this bill as an MP".

Mr Kerr said he supports the benefits policy, and accused Labour of “having more flip flops than Blackpool beach”.

On tax rises, Ms Loudon has declined to rule out supporting tax rises, saying during a debate on STV she would always support the party line.

Asked about council tax rises, she said: "I am a councillor in South Lanarkshire and I am always going to follow the position of my party and Cosla.

“No decision has been made on this yet and to suggest otherwise frankly isn’t being straight with voters. If Labour aren’t for fair taxation, what are you for?".

Opposing tax rises, Mr Shanks has said: “Years of brutal cuts by the SNP has local services in Rutherglen and Hamilton West at breaking point, and now the government wants to plug the gaps with eye-watering Council Tax hikes of up to £717”.

Mr Kerr has previously called for a freeze of council tax.

On Brexit, Mr Shanks is decidedly less outspoken, given his party’s stance, whereas Ms Loudon opposes it.

She said: “The people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West, like the rest of Scotland, never wanted to leave the EU, but we were dragged out anyway and forced to pay the cost by a Westminster government we didn’t vote for. We are still paying for it a year on from Truss' disastrous mini-budget”.

On workers rights, the two main candidates are also split, with the SNP calling for the devolving of employment law, while Labour are vowing to enhance rights from Westminster.

Mr Shanks has said Labour wanted to end zero-hours contracts, extend sick pay and raise the minimum wage, and pointed out the SNP hired a firm using zero hour contracts to deliver Ms Loudon’s leaflets.

She claims Labour aren’t standing up for workers, adding: “Despite growing calls to safeguard workers’ rights by taking employment powers out of the control of Westminster and into the hands of Scotland’s Parliament – even from one of Labour’s biggest donors, Unite – Sir Keir Starmer is all too happy to sit back and watch workers’ protections break down”.