Candidates and Constituency Assessments</h1>

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'Do you have a ticket to get in?' 'I'm a member!' Exchange between a member of the Scottish Parliament's security staff and North of Scotland MSP, Alex Johnstone, September 2001.

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West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine

Candidates

	Labour	James Barrowman
	Scottish National Party	Caroline Little
	Conservative & Unionist	Alex Johnstone MSP
	Liberal Democrat	Sir Robert Smith Bt., MP
	Scottish Socialist Party	Lorna Grant

Candidates

The Labour candidate is James Barrowman.

The SNP candidate is Caroline Little. Caroline was born and educated in Dumfries where she met and married her husband, Bob. Together with their three daughters they moved to Westhill, Aberdeenshire in 1993. Caroline is well known locally through the work she has done first on the Westhill Academy School Board then the Scottish Parent Teacher Council followed by two years as Secretary of her local residents association. She is currently treasurer of the Westhill Skate Park Association and a committee member of the Aberdeen Town and County History Society. Since 2001 she has worked as a Parliamentary Assistant to Richard Lochhead MSP and Brian Adam MSP in the Aberdeen constituency office.

The Tory candidate is Alex Johnstone MSP. He was born and educated in Stonehaven and is married with two adult children. He is a member of the National Farmers Union of Scotland and is a principal partner in the family dairy/arable farm. He is currently the Scottish Conservative Spokesman on Rural Development and the Environment. At the 1999 Scottish parliamentary elections, Alex Johnstone stood for Gordon, coming third with 19.64 % of the vote. As third on the Tory list for North East Scotland, he was elected as the 6 th regional list MSP. At the 2003 Scottish parliamentray elections, he stood for Angus, coming second with 22.03 % of the vote. As second on the Tory list for North East Scotland, he was elected as the second list MSP for the region.

Lib Dem candidate, Sir Robert Smith won Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine from the Tories in 1997. Born in 1958, he was educated at Merchant Taylors School in Northwood and has a BSC from Aberdeen University. He is married with three daughters and lives in Banchory. Before becoming an MP he managed the family estates. His interests include hill walking and sailing. Sir Robert Smith was a Lib Dem councillor in Aberdeenshire from 1995 until 1997 and at the 1987 Westminster election he contested Aberdeen North, coming second with 17.8 %. He was a Scottish Whip from 1999 until 2001 when he became Lib Dem Depty Chief Whip.

The SSP candidate is Lorna Grant, who was brought up in Newmill near Keith in Banffshire. She qualified as a registered nurse from the College of Further Education in Aberdeen and initially worked in psychiatric nursing, caring for patients with Alzheimer's Condition. She later joined the team at the Intensive Care Unit at ARI before becoming a carer for physically disabled young adults at Margaret Blackwoods in Aberdeen. Now a grandmother, Lorna is a committed campaigner for an immediate end to the war on Iraq.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Liberal Democrat	16,840	43.97 %		16,507	43.54 %
	Conservative & Unionist	11,694	30.53 %		11,686	30.82 %
	Labour	4,698	12.27 %		4,669	12.31 %
	Scottish National Party	4,648	12.14 %		4,634	12.22 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	424	1.11 %		418	1.10 %
Notional Liberal Democrat win	Notional Liberal Democrat majority	5,146	13.44 %		4,821	12.72 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the whole of the old West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine seat with the exception of two wards shared with Gordon. In addition the constituency includes five wards from the old Gordon seat.