No score draw

'Most by-elections don't take place against a background of rampant local corruption while the guilty political party is enjoying near record levels of popularity in the polls.' Murray Ritchie, 4 th November 1997.

No hiding place in debate

From the Herald 5 th November 1997

All the candidates were invited to a televised debate by Scottish Television and the rules were strict enough that none of the main candidates made any obvious score.

But there was some embarrassment for Labour when fringe candidate Charles McLauchlan, appeared to dump a dossier on the lap of Labour candidate Douglas Alexander.

Meanwhile, the SNP played the party's local credentials very hard, and candidate Ian Blackford stood by the record of his party colleagues in Renfrewshire.

However, most journalists felt this attempt at solidarity did more harm than good.

There had been widespread complaints during this by-election about party managers refusing to make their candidates available for the day-to-day rough and tumble of the by-election. In particular, Mr Alexander has been accused by his opponents of hiding from the process.

Last night at the all-party debate organised for television there was no hiding place and Labour campaign managers felt comfortable as they approached the eve of poll.

There were a series of interesting head-to-head clashes between the fringe candidates, and Mr Blackford acquitted himself well. He also made a point of supporting his party's councillors in the area, by way of casting doubt on the sleaze attached to Labour on the authority.

In contrast to the quiet contest of the past weeks, last night's TV hustings finally gave all sides a chance to make their point. This applied not least to the Tories and Liberal Democrats, but there were striking contributions from the fringe parties.

However, most candidates admitted that the official Labour candidate was blameless in terms of local sleaze. - Nov 4