Remember when Nicola Sturgeon sharp-elbowed her way into the United Nations climate change conference when it came to Scotland five years ago?

Despite having no official role, she paraded around COP26 harvesting selfies with Greta Thunberg, Al Gore, Joe Biden and others.

It was at this time that she announced the SNP would abandon its core policy of maximising extraction of North Sea oil and gas.

SNP politicians suddenly stopped bellowing ‘It’s Scotland’s oil’ and obediently jumped onto Sturgeon’s green bandwagon.

Two years prior to COP26, she had already pledged that Scotland would meet net zero by 2045.

In thrall to the extremist Greens, while eagerly burnishing her ‘progressive’ credentials, Sturgeon had no plan to meet this arbitrary target (spoiler alert – it will be missed).

I pose the question: Are Sturgeon’s snaps from COP26 the most expensive and harmful photos in recent Scottish political history? Because the impact of her anti-oil and gas crusade has been profoundly damaging to the great city of Aberdeen where 1,000 jobs a months are being lost.

Over recent weeks, I’ve spent time campaigning in Aberdeen South for Thursday’s critical Westminster by-election.

I’ve heard harrowing personal accounts of job losses and of business men and women taking their investment elsewhere. I’ve felt real anger on doorsteps and in workplaces.

Aberdeen’s demise is starkly illustrated by grim rows of empty or demolished buildings in once vibrant industrial sites, along with a sharp drop in house prices.

During one of three visits to Aberdeen with our UK leader Kemi Badenoch, the owner of a family-owned business pointed at specialist engineering equipment set to be shipped to the Middle East.

Speaking with emotion in his voice, he feared the day that he might be forced to send his remaining workers home to their families for good.

At the heart of this election campaign is some sleekit SNP misinformation – so brazen that even Peter Murrell might blush. They’re now pretending to back oil and gas.

During the recent Holyrood election, John Swinney hinted that the SNP might be shifting away from Sturgeon’s anti-drilling fatwa.

I say to the people of Aberdeen: Don’t be fooled by Swinney’s smoke and mirrors routine. The SNP’s position is unchanged. They still have a presumption AGAINST new drilling.

And when the SNP by-election candidate, or their cocky former MP Stephen Flynn, say they’d ditch their party’s anti-drilling presumption, it counts for absolutely nothing. They might as well peddle a presumption of free campervans for everyone. And that’s because John Swinney does not have the guts to do the right thing for Aberdeen or for Scotland’s oil and gas workers.

There’s no chance that serially weak Swinney will ever step out of Sturgeon’s shadow and stand up to her.

Just look at his craven rejection of a parliamentary inquiry into the Murrell scandal and the wider justice system.

The UK Labour government is just as culpable for the carnage being wreaked across the North East and further afield.

Eco-zealot Ed Miliband’s hostility to new drilling is stated openly and proudly.

His position was idiotic even before conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine brought chaos and volatility to global energy markets.

But even the necessity of UK energy security in a dangerous world does not shake the conviction of those seeking to prematurely shut down the North Sea.

They also don’t care that their hostility is hitting investment in Scotland’s growing renewable energy sector too. No wonder the Norwegians think the UK has lost its marbles. As they drill with pragmatic gusto, Labour and the SNP want to turn off the taps in the very same basin.

This month, a new Aberdeen University study disclosed almost 5billion barrels of untapped oil and gas west of Shetland.

With the UK importing hydrocarbons at levels not seen since the 1970s, failing to develop them risks greater UK dependence on dirty foreign imports.

The university’s director for energy transition John Underhill says this would have ‘implication for emissions, costs, jobs, tax revenues and energy security’.

But it’s not clear if anyone in Downing Street is listening, or whether they even care. Lame duck Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is on his way out. It’s just a question of when.

It’s reported that Miliband is in the camp of wannabe PM Andy Burnham who’s standing in the Makerfield by-election as a stepping stone to No10.

It’s therefore reasonable to assume that however Labour’s drama concludes, there will be no change to their position. That’s why Kemi Badenoch and I have been so determined to put a spotlight on what’s happening in Aberdeen. Makerfield is only about one man’s job, but in Aberdeen South it’s about tens of thousands of jobs.

Scottish Conservative candidate Douglas Lumsden is a proud Aberdonian who spent decades working in oil and gas.

He gets it. He’s been campaigning tirelessly along with a massive contingent of Conservative activists.

Our effort and energy is in stark contrast to Nigel Farage’s Reform who have been invisible.

In the equivalent seat at last month’s Holyrood election, votes for Reform resulted in the SNP scraping to victory over my party.

Many people have vowed not to repeat that mistake.

Our message is simple. This by-election is a referendum on the future of oil and gas in Aberdeen.

The choice could not be any clearer. It’s a two-horse race between my party and the SNP. And it’s far too tight to call.

People in the North East feel betrayed, hurt and angry. They can do something about it by sending a message to the SNP and Labour by voting for straight-talking Douglas Lumsden.

I know that our oil and gas champion will bang the drum for his home city at Westminster just as he’s done at Holyrood for the past five years.