Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Labour finally launched their Glasgow East by-election campaign today and ran straight into trouble. Candidate Margaret Curran claimed she had lived in the East End all of her life. In fact she lives on the South Side of Glasgow.' Bernard Ponsonby in STV News, 8 th July 2008.

Glasgow North East

Candidates

	William Bain
	Labour
	William Bain is aged 36. He works as a lecturer in public law. He is the current secretary of the local constituency Labour party. Recent electoral experience
	Cllr Eileen Baxendale
	Liberal Democrats
	Eileen Baxendale is a South Lanarkshire Cllr. Recent electoral experience 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election, Rutherglen South, First Preference votes ( %)
	David Kerr
	Scottish National Party
	Born in Glasgow in 1973, David Kerr (35) spent his early years in Dennistoun before moving to Condorrat near Cumbernauld. A graduate of St Andrews University in Scottish History and International Relations in 1996, David joined the BBC in 1997 as a graduate trainee. In 1999 he became the Editor of Newsnight Scotland. At the time, it was reported that he was the BBC's youngest ever editor of a news programme. More recently David has worked in London as Assistant Editor of Newsnight before returning to Scotland in 2003 as Assistant Editor of Reporting Scotland. In 2007 he moved in front of the camera, becoming a BBC Scotland reporter and regular face on Reporting Scotland. In 2000 David Kerr resigned as Editor of Newsnight Scotland to contest the Falkirk West by-election for the SNP. There he achieved a dramatic increase in the SNP vote, reducing the Labour majority to just 700. That represented a 16% swing away from Labour to the SNP. David was an active member of the National Union of Journalists. Recent electoral experience 2000 Westminster Parliament by-election, Falkirk West, 7,787 votes (39.93 %)
	Kevin McVey
	Scottish Socialist Party
	Kevin McVey has been a civil service trade union representative for 20 years, Kevin was brought up in the constituency, in Ruchazie. He joined the Labour Party Young Socialists in 1984 and was expelled from the Labour party 5 years later for being a socialist. Kevin has a long track record of fighting the poll tax, against school closures, and for taxation of the rich to improve public services. Recent electoral experience 2005 Glasgow City Council by-election, Kildrum & Park, 77 votes (5.2 %)
	Tommy Sheridan
	Solidarity
	Tommy Sheridan was born in Glasgow in 1964 and educated at Lourdes School. He graduated from Stirling University with a BA in Economics and Politics. Initially a member of the Labour Party, Sheridan came to prominence as an Anti Poll Tax protester and was jailed in 1991. He won almost 20 % of the vote in Pollok in the 1992 general election as a Militant Labour candidate, while still in jail, and was elected a month later as Glasgow District councillor for Pollok, a ward which he held until 2003 when he was succeeded by his agent Keith Baldassara. In the 1994 European elections he came third in Glasgow with 7.6 % of the vote as a Militant and in the 1997 general election he took 11.1 % for the Scottish Socialist Alliance. He was elected as Glasgow's fifth list MSP in 1999 when the Scottish Socialist Party took 7.25 % of the vote in the city, coming just 1,658 votes behind the Tories and 108 votes ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Sheridan proved to be an effective and popular campaigner. His Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Bill Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on the 6 th December 2000 and Royal Assent was given on the 17 th January 2001. At the 2003 election, Sheridan was joined by five colleagues. However, these proved to be much less effective than Sheridan as a lone MSP with the SSP group becoming plagued by in-fighting. The new SSP MSPs were also perceived by many of the public as being more interested in engaging in high profile publicity stunts than working to defend the poor and disadvantaged - for example when they allowed themselves to be suspended from the Parliament on the 30 th June rather than using their votes to prevent Labour and the Liberal Democrats from blocking a motion to compensate the families of 80 victims who died after contracted hepatitis C in blood transfusions. Tommy Sheridan resigned as leader on the 11 th November 2004 to clear himself concerning allegations published in the News of the World, winning £200,000 of damages from the newspaper in August 2006, but later facing accusations of perjury. The SSP group split over the issue with Tommy Sheridan and South of Scotland MSP Rosemary Byrne quitting the party in September 2006 to found Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement. In the electoral battle in 2007, Solidarity beat the SSP in every one of the eight electoral regions, however, none of the SSP or Solidarity MSPs were re-elected. Solidarity Posts: 3 rd September 2006 - Co-convenor with Rosemary Byrne Scottish Socialist Party Posts: 12 th June 2003 - 2 nd September 2006 - Spokesperson on Communities, Finance and Public Services 11 th November 2004 - 13 th February 2005 - Joint leadership (shared by all six SSP MSPs) May 1999 - 11 th November 2004 - leader of the SSP Recent electoral experience As a NO2EU candidate: 2009 European Parliament election, second o NO2EU Scottish list, 9,693 votes (0.88 %) As a Solidarity candidate: 2007 Scottish Parliament election, First on Solidarity's Glasgow list, 8,574 votes (4.13 %) (Not elected) As a Scottish Socialist Party candidate: 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Glasgow Pollok, 6,016 votes (27.93 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, First on Scottish Socialist Party's Glasgow list, 31,116 votes (16.02 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Glasgow Pollok, 5,611 votes (21.51 %) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, First on Scottish Socialist Party's Glasgow list, 18,581 votes (7.25 %) (elected) 1999 City of Glasgow Council election, Pollok, 1,214 votes (44.01 %) (elected) As a Scottish Socialist Alliance candidate: 1997 Westminster Parliament election, Glasgow Pollok, 3,639 votes (11.09 %) As a Militant candidate: 1995 City of Glasgow Council election, Pollok, 1,019 votes (48.04 %) (elected) 1994 European Parliament election, Glasgow, 12,113 votes (7.59 %) 1992 Glasgow District Council election, Pollok, ? votes (52 %) (elected) 1992 Westminster Parliament election, Glasgow Pollok, 6,287 votes (19.26 %)
	John Swinburne
	Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party
	John Swinburne was born on the 4 th July 1930 in Pennsylvania in the USA. The family returned to Scotland when he was seven and he was educated at Dalziel High School in Motherwell. He worked as a mechanical engineer and has also been a freelance journalist. He was Commercial Manager and Press Officer and is currently a Director of Motherwell Football Club. He runs his own consultancy business, the Swinburne Agency. He has written three books, including the history of the Fir Park club. He is married, a Christian and a member of the National Union of Journalists. He formed the SSCUP in early 2003, stating that "Unity" referred to the "United Kingdom" and was elected as the sixth Central Scotand regional MSP. In the parliament he was Co-Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Affordable Housing andÊDeputy Convener of the Cross-Party Groups on Loss of Consultant Led Services in Scotland -Solutions, Lupus, M.E., Scotland's Financial Future, Sports and Tobacco Control. He lost his seat in May 2007. Recent electoral experience 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Motherwell & Wishaw, 1,702 votes (6.51 %) 2007 Scottish Parliament election, First on SSCUP Central Scotland list, 7,060 votes (2.48 %) (not elected) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Motherwell & Wishaw, 1,597 votes (6.29 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, First on SSCUP Central Scotland list, 17,146 votes (6.52 %) (elected)