Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'In all the rows between the BBC and the government, Tony Blair has become the only prime minister to dispose of the corporation's two major players.' Allison Hardie in the Scotsman, 30 th January 2004.

Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East

Candidates

	Labour	Rosemary McKenna MP
	Scottish National Party	James Hepburn
	Conservative & Unionist	James Boswell
	Liberal Democrat	Hugh O'Donnell
	Scottish Socialist Party	Willie O'Neill
	Operation Christian Vote	Patrick Elliott

Candidates

Rosemary McKenna MP, one of the most sinister figures in Scottish politics, is on the extreme right wing of the Labour party - and indeed of any party. She is an ultra-loyal Blairite who was found at safe seat in 1997 by the simple means of vacating Cumbernauld & Kilsyth by shunting sitting MP Douglas Hogg off to the House of Lords. The constituency association was not allowed to chose their own candidate and the London leadership imposed McKenna. A real heavyweight, she had been leader of the local council, the Provost, president of COSLA and a member of the European Committee of the Regions. More importantly, she was a leading member of the sinister Network organisation, Labour's equivalent of the Thought Police. McKenna is best known for her leading role in the notorious Labour selection committee for candidates for the first Scottish parliamentary elections. While McKenna's committe found that her own daughter was the kind of candidate who would make an ideal Labour MSP, better known candidates were rejected. These included Dennis Canavan MP (now an Indepent MSP), Ian Davidson MP, Michael Connarty MP, Donald Dewar's special advisor, Murray (now Lord) Elder, East Ayrshire Council leader David Sneller, North Lanarkshire Council leader Harry McGuigan, former Labour assistant general secretary Tommy Shephard, former Labour Glasgow chairman Mary Picken, former SNP activist Isobel Lindsay, and Susan Deacon - who made a successful appeal due to personal circumstances. Since 1999, McKenna has been almost invisible and her candidacy is a surprise as it was assumed that she would be quietly retired to the House of Lords.

The SNP candidate is James Hepburn. Jamie joined the SNP aged 18 and became active in the party's student wing as well as in his home city of Glasgow. During his time as a student he was involved in the campaigns to elect Ian Hamilton and Alasdair Gray as rector of Glasgow University. He also served as Senior Vice President of Glasgow University Students' Representative Council and as convenor of the SNP student wing, as well as representing them to the party's National Executive Committee for two years. Jamie has also served as convener of the SNP youth wing and secretary of the SNP's Glasgow Regional Association. He is currently employed by Alex Neil MSP as his research assistant. Election Agent to Alex Dingwall, SNP candidate in Glasgow Maryhill at the 2001 general election, and a council candidate for the Firhill ward in Glasgow in 2003, this is Jamie's first time as a parliamentary candidate.

The Tory candidate is James Boswell.

Lib Dem candidate, Hugh O'Donnell, was born in 1952 and educated at Falkirk College of Furher Education, Quuen Margaret College in Edinburgh and Southern Connecticut State University in the USA where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in communication. He is married with one daughter and has worked as a returning officer in Kosovo and a regional organiser for Scotland in Europe. An ex member of the Lib Dem Scottish Executive, his interest include disability rights issues; ethnic community issues; media structure, ownership & influence; Freedom of Information legislation, historical research; writing short articles for local press and DIY. He has been a council candidate in Cumbernauld & Kilsyth and North Lanarkshire. He also contested Cumbernauld & Kilsyth at the 1999 and 2003 Scottish elections, coming third with 6.6 % and 5.2 % respectively. At the 2001 Westminster election, he contested Falkirk West, coming fourth with 7.1 %.

The SSP candidate is Willie O'Neill, who is 41 years old and lives in Kilsyth with his partner and two children. In the last Scottish election, Willie stood down to give his backing to the Stobhill hospital campaigner, who went on to win the seat. Willie has been at the centre of many campaigns, for example against local school closures, for school buses in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and for free school meals.

The Operation Christian Vote candidate is Patrick Elliott.

Save Stobhill Hospital were also to contest the constituency, but their candidate John McManus decided not to stand after breaking his arm in early April.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	23,026	57.79 %		23,314	57.61 %
	Scottish National Party	10,359	26.00 %		10,505	25.96 %
	Liberal Democrat	2,430	6.10 %		2,446	6.04 %
	Conservative & Unionist	2,017	5.06 %		2,031	5.02 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,775	4.46 %		1,992	4.75 %
	Others	234	0.59 %		250	0.62 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	12,667	31.79 %		12,810	31.66 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the old Cumbernauld & Kilsyth constituency plus five wards from the old Strathlelvin & Bearsden constituency.