Candidates and Constituency Assessments

Alex Salmond : The quotation from Lord Cooper is: 'The principle of the unlimited sovereignty of Parliament is a distinctly English principle which has no counterpart in Scottish constitutional law.' That was the opinion of the First Division of the Court of Session in Scotland. Does the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) disagree with it? The Hon. Bernard Jenkin : The reality of the British constitution is that to be part of the United Kingdom is to accept that the sovereignty of the people is vested in Parliament.' Hansard, 13 th January 1998.

Banff & Buchan

Candidates

	Labour	Rami Okasha
	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond MP
	Conservative & Unionist	Cllr Alexander Wallace
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Eleanor Anderson
	Scottish Socialist Party	Steve Will
	UK Independence Party	Kathleen Kemp
	Operation Christian Vote	Major Victor Ross

The Labour candidate is Rami Okasha.

The SNP's Alex Salmond was born in Linlithgow on 31 December 1954. He was educated at Linlithgow Academy and St Andrews University, where he graduated with a Master of Arts (MA), with joint honours in Economics and History. Alex was first employed through the Government Economic Service (GES) as an Assistant Economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. In 1980, Alex joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, for whom he worked for seven years, first as an Assistant Economist, then as the Oil Economist and latterly as Royal Bank Economist. While with the Royal Bank, Alex wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international outlets. He also contributed regularly to oil and energy conferences, devising, in 1983, the 'Royal Bank / BBC Oil Index' which continues monthly publication to this day. Alex was first elected as Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan in the 1987 General Election and more than doubled his majority in 1992. In the 1997 election, Alex more than trebled his majority, which at 12,845 is the highest ever achieved by an SNP MP. At the 2001 election, he again had a 5-figure majority. Alex was elected leader of the SNP in 1990, since when the SNP has emerged as the second party in Scotland, winning just under 30% of the vote and 35 MSPs in the first Scottish Parliament in the election of 1999. Alex served as Leader of the Opposition and Shadow First Minister in the Scots Parliament before standing down as Party Leader in September 2000, with his party on a historic high in the opinion polls. Although he stood down from the Scottish Parliament in 2001, he remains an MP at Westminster, and, after the leadership contest of 2004 returned as SNP leader with 75% of the vote. In addition ot the more orthodox political media appearances in such programmes as 'Question Time' and 'Any Questions', Alex has always been prepared to engage in the lighter side of politics, apearing regularly on 'Have I got News for You', 'Call My Bluff', and 'Clive Anderson Talks Back'. In 1998, Alex won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year. Throughout his time in politics, Alex has maintained a strong interest in the racing industry, writing a weekly column for the Scotsman newspaper and appearing a number of times on Channel 4's 'The Morning Line'.

Tory candidate Cllr Sandy Wallace is Conservative spokesman for education and recreation on Aberdeenshire Council, and a member of Grampian Police Joint Board. He contested Banff & Buchan in 2001, coming second with 20.2 %. Sandy is at present a Councillor for Lower Deeside and was the Group Spokesman on Education and Recreation from 2003-2004 and was the Spokesman for Social Work and Housing from 1999-2003. He works as a Social Care Officer in the Aberdeenshire area. Sandy is married and has two children.

The Lib Dem candidate s Dr Eleanor Anderson. She was born in 1941 and educated at South Queensferry Primary, Bo'ness Academy, Moray House, the Open University and Nottingham University. She has worked as a researcher for the Open University as a lecturer in the University of Hertfordshire and as a primary school headteacher. Dr Andreson is married with one son and lives in Edinburgh. She stood twice in Aberdeen Central for Scottish parliamentary elections, coming third with 16.62 % in 1999 and third with 22.63 % in 2003. She also contested Aberdeen Central at the 2001 Westminster election, coming third with 17.20 %.

The SSP candidate is Steve Will, aged has lived in Peterhead with his wife and two daughters for 11 years. He now works as a janitor at Peterhead Academy though he previously spent several years in the hotel trade. Steve is active in his trade union, the GMB, serving as a shop steward. He is an active member of the Buchan Branch of the SSP, serving as branch secretary and also maintaining the branch website.

The UK Independence Party candidate is Kathleen Kemp.

The Operation Christian Vote is Major Victor Ross.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Scottish National Party	17,408	48.89 %		17,333	49.61 %
	Conservative & Unionist	7,664	21.53 %		7,144	20.45 %
	Liberal Democrat	4,932	13.85 %		4,732	13.54 %
	Labour	4,795	13.47 %		4,893	14.03 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	496	1.39 %		523	1.50 %
	Others	310	0.87 %		310	0.89 %
Notional Scottish National Party win	Notional Scottish National Party majority	9,744	27.37 %		10,189	29.16 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the old Banff & Buchan constituency with the addition of four wards from the old Gordon constituency.