Following boundary changes, July 4th sees elections for the Westminster Parliament in Scotland’s 57 seats. Following our coverage of the campaigns in Glasgow South, Dundee Central, North East Fife and Dumfries and Galloway, we now look at some other seats that are of interest: Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, Lothian East, North Ayrshire and Arran, Alloa and Grangemouth, Edinburgh North and Leith, and Aberdeen South.
Aberdeenshire North and Moray East sees erstwhile Tory leader Douglas Ross defends his party’s record here. David Duguid, the assumed Tory candidate, was unceremoniously removed. The constituency's Labour candidate has been disowned. Ross says he will leave Holyrood and stand down as Tory leader should he win. Should Seamus Logan outpoll Ross in the SNP no. 3 target seat it will be interesting to see the impact it has on the Scottish Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats and Reform are the other candidates.
Lothian East. Scottish Labour's no. 1 target seat. Alba's Kenny MacAskill won the seat as an SNP candidate in 2019, MacAskill has moved on to contest another seat (see below). Douglas Alexander - veteran of the Blair government -hopes to win the seat for Labour. George Kerevan has been brought in to try and hold the seat for Alba, but this looks unlikely. The SNP in the shape of local councillor Lyn Jardine looks to be fighting a loosing battle. Green, Liberal Democrat and Reform candidates complete the battle here. Difficult choices for those looking for progressive advance.
At the other side of the country, North Ayrshire and Arran will see eight candidates contest the seat. Held by the SNP's Patricia Gibson, Labour's Irene Campbell will need to come from third to win, a victory the Left may be more interested in. The Conservatives will hope to hold onto second place if they fail to win. Liberal Democrats, Greens, SDP, Socialist Labour and Reform will contest the remaining places. The seats north of here in Glasgow and the surrounding area and east to the Forth are where Labour hope to make the gains that many pollsters have predicted.
Alloa and Grangemouth is central amongst these seats. Again Labour would need to come from third. The campaigning by Unite and others to defend the jobs and production at the refinery, however, could have an impact on the here and in neighbouring Falkirk. In Alloa and Grangemouth, Brian Leishman is the Labour candidate. He will hope to beat the SNP's John Nicolson. Kenny MacAskill standing here for Alba may assist them, given his profile, as should boundary changes. Those who support the politics of just transition will battle the lobbyists for oil and gas whoever wins.
Edinburgh North and Leith sees another crowded field, but the question here will be whether the SNP hold onto a seat in the capital. Deidre Brock will be challenged by Tracey Gilbert for Labour. In part the result will be determined by whether the Liberal and Tory votes hold up. The remaining six candidates include a Green and Reform. The CPB and Socialist Labour are here too, as are the Family Party and an independent.
Aberdeen South, one of the city’s two seats, is likely see the one of the big impacts of oil and gas politics. Stephen Flynn has had an inflated profile and should hold the seat, given the SNP's softening of their approach to transition. The Tories historically are the main challengers. Liberal Democrats, Greens and Labour have been campaigning here. Reform, and an independent and the Scottish Family Party are on the ballot too.
Published 2 July 2024