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'A survey of voting intentions by the Ipsos MORI organisation revealed a massive swing to the SNP in both the constituency and list sections of the Holyrood voting system. In just three months, Labour has slipped from a 14-point lead over the SNP to being two points behind them. Just 28 per cent of voters said they would back Labour in a Holyrood election compared with 30 per cent who opted for the SNP.' Peter MacMahon in the Scotsman 1 st July 2006. |
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1. John Swinney MSP (Also standing in Tayside North constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| John Swinney was born on the 13 th April 1964 in Edinburgh and educated at Forrester School in Edinburgh and Edinburgh University where he graduated with an MA (Hons) in Politics. He worked as a Researcher for the Scottish Coal Project at Napier University in Edinburgh and then from 1987 until 1992 was a Managing consultant for Development Options Ltd and from 1992 until 1997 was in charge of Strategic planning principle with Scottish Amicable. John joined the SNP in 1979 and has held a number of posts at local and national level. In 1997 he was elected MP for North Tayside and MSP in 1999, remaining a dual mandate as MSP and MP until 2001 and became the SNP's Deputy Leader in 1998. In 2000, John was elected SNP Leader, becoming Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. He stood down as SNP Leader in 2004 and is now Convener of the Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee. John is married to Elizabeth Quigley and has two children. He lives near Blairgowrie, in his North Tayside constituency and in his leisure time, enjoys hill walking and cycling. Shadow Ministerial positions May 1999 - September 2000 - Deputy Leader of the Scottish Opposition & Shadow Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning September 2000 - April 2003 - Shadow First Minister & Shadow Minister for Constitution & External Affairs May 2003 - September 2004 - Shadow First Minister September 2005 - Shadow Minister for Finance & Public Services Parliamentary positions September 2004 - September 2005 - Convener of the European & External Relations Committee Party positions September 1998 - September 2000 SNP Deputy Leader September 2000 - September 2004 SNP Leader Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottish parliament election, North Tayside, 14,969 votes (44.89 %) (elected) 2003 Scottish parliament election, First on SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 57,631 votes (23.04 %) 1999 Scottish parliament election, North Tayside, 16,786 votes (44.11 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish parliament election, First on SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 87,659 votes (28.68 %) 1997 Westminster parliament election, North Tayside, 20,447 votes (44.85 %) (elected) 1992 Westminster parliament election, Tayside North, 16,288 votes (37.48 %) | ||
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2. Bruce Crawford JP MSP (Also standing in Stirling constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Bruce Crawford has been an SNP MSP since 1999, the inception of the first Scottish Parliament in 300 years. Bruce is privileged to have been appointed to the SNP Front Bench in a number of roles and is currently the SNP's Shadow Minister for Parliament. In this role he serves on the Parliamentary Bureau and is also Deputy Convener of the Local Government and Transport Committee. Bruce is a regional Member for Mid Scotland and Fife and has an office in Stirling. Before being elected as an MSP Bruce was lucky to have had a varied career from being a civil servant in The Scottish Office to the leader of Perth and Kinross Council. Bruce has also served on a number of Boards. Bruce is married with three sons and finds his escape from the world of politics in sport. He is a keen football supporter of both Scotland and Dunfermline Athletic FC and likes to play golf. Shadow Ministerial positions September 2004 - Party Business Convenor May 2003 - September 2004 - Business Manager & Chief Whip September 2000 - April 2003 - Shadow Minister for Transport & the Environment May 1999 - September 2000 - Chief Whip Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Stirling, 5,645 votes (19.04 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Second on SNP Mid Scotland & list, 57,631 votes (23.04 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Fifth on SNP Mid Scotland & list, 87,659 votes (28.68 %) (elected) 1999 Pethshire & Kinross Council election, Kinross Town, 1,092 votes (64.31 %) (elected) 1995 Pethshire & Kinross Council election, Kinross Town, 1,486 votes (73.60 %) (elected) | ||
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3. Roseanna Cunningham MSP (Also standing in Parth constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Roseanna Cunningham was born on the 27 th of July 1951 in Glasgow and educated at John Curtin High School in Freemantle, Western Australia, the Western Australia University where she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Politics and Edinburgh University where she graduated with an LLB in 1982. From 1977 to 1979
she worked as an SNP Researcher, from 1983 to 1986 as a Solicitor with Dumbarton District Council and from 1986 to 1989 as a Solicitor with Glasgow District Council. From 1989 to 1990
she was a Solicitor in Private Practice. She became an Advocate in December 1990 and is still a member of the Faculty of Advocates. She contested Haymarket/Tollcross in the 1982 Lothian Regional Council elections, standing against a young Alistair Darling who won the seat. Roseanna has represented Perth since winning the seat in a Westminster by-election in 1995, being a dual mandate MP/MSP until 2001. She was the SNP's Deputy Leader from September 2000 until September 2004 when she stood for the leadership, polling 953 votes (14.6 %) compared to 4,952 votes (75.8 %) for Alex Salmond and 631 votes (9.7 %) for Michael Russel. She is Shadow Environment & Rural Affairs Minister is on the SNP's Cabinet. She is also member of the Parliament's Environment & Rural Affairs Committee. In the Scottish Parliament, Roseanna has been Convener of the Justice Committee and held the Justice portfolio for the SNP. Her interests outside politics include traditional music, reading, and hill walking. Shadow Ministerial positions May 1999 - September 2000 - Shadow Minister for Justice, Equality & Land Reform September 2000 - April 2003 - Deputy Leader of the Scottish Opposition & Shadow Minister for Justice, Equality & Land Reform May 2003 - September 2004 - Deputy Leader of the Scottish Opposition & Shadow Minister for Environment & Rural Affairs Parliamentary positions September 2004 - Convener of the Health Committee May 1999 - September 2000 - Convener of the Justice Committee Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottish parliament election, Perth, 10,717 votes (33.90 %) (elected) 2003 Scottish parliament election, First on SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 57,631 votes (23.04 %) 1999 Scottish parliament election, Perth, 13,570 votes (36.29 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish parliament election, First on SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 87,659 votes (28.68 %) 1997 Westminster parliament election, Perth, 16,209 votes (36.38 %) (elected) 1995 Westminster parliament by-election, Perth & Kinross, 16,931 votes (40.36 %) (elected) 1992 Westminster parliament election, Perth & Kinross, 18,101 votes (36.00 %) 1982 Lothian Regional Council election, Haymarket/Tollcross 308 votes (6.91 %) | ||
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4. Tricia Marwick MSP (Also standing in Fife Central constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Tricia Marwick was born to a mining family in Cowdenbeath on the 5 th November 1953 and worked as a Public Affairs Officer for Shelter Scotland from 1992 until her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. In 1992 she contested Fife Central, taking the SNP from fourth to second place and increasing their vote by 9.6 %. She also contested the seat in 1997, 1999 and 2003, reducing the Labour majority from 15,709 in 1987 to 2,762 in 2003. In the parliament she co-sponsored Lord Watson's anti fox hunting bill and performed well in the chamber and in the Standards Committee, acting in concert with Adam Ingram during the Lobbygate scandal. Alex Salmond appointed her as Shadow Deputy Business Manager, while John Swinney promoted her to Shadow Business Manager, and Shadow Minister for Broadcasting & Gaelic in September 2000. In June 2001 she became Shadow Minister for Local Government, a post which she held until September 2005 when she was appointed Shadow Minister for Housing. She is currently Convener of the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Bill Committee, a member of the Communities Committee and a Substitute Member of the Procedures Committee. Shadow Ministerial positions May 1999 - September 2000 Deputy Business Manager September 2000 - June 2001 - Business Manager, Broadcasting & Gaelic June 2001 - September 2004 - Shadow Minister for Local Government September 2004 - September 2005 - Business Manager & Chief Whip September 2005 - Shadow Minister for Housing Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottish parliament election, Fife Central, 7,829 votes (30.59 %) 1999 Scottish parliament election, Third on the SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 57,631 votes (323.04 %) (elected) 1999 Scottish parliament election, Fife Central, 10,153 votes (30.91 %) 1999 Scottish parliament election, Third on the SNP Mid Scotland & Fife list, 87,659 votes (28.68 %) (elected) 1997 Westminster parliament election, Fife Central, 10,199 votes (25.02 %) 1992 Westminster parliament election, Fife Central, 10,458 votes (25.06 %) | ||
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5. Cllr Keith Brown (Also standing in Ochil constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Keith Brown was an elected member of the SNP's National Council and Assistant Spokesperson on Industry, Technology & Employment. He worked as Unison official and local government officer in Stirling. Keith Brown was elected as councillor for the Clackmannanshire ward Alva in a dramatic by-election contest in 1996 and became the leader of Clackmannanshire council in May 1999 when the SNP replaced Labour as the major party. The veteran of several national election campaigns, in April 2006 Keith Brown was selected as candidate for Ochil winning 75 % of votes in a one-member one-vote ballot. Cllr Brown told the Airdrie & Hillfoots Advertiser: 'I am delighted to have been selected and to have won such a clear mandate from SNP members in Ochil, and my task now is to make sure that the superb representation provided by George Reid is continued after 2007, by ensuring that the SNP retain this seat. I am fairly confident that we can do it and make advances because the Labour government, both in Westminster and in Holyrood, is in a fairly disgruntled state. It was a big breakthrough when the seat was taken from Labour in 2003 because Ochil is a marginal seat. We aren't keen to see it change so it's up to us to retain the seat, and I think we can make gains across Scotland.' Recent electoral experience 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Falkirk East, 7,576 votes (27.49 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Sixth on SNP Central Scotland list, 59,274 votes (22.52 %) 2003 Local council election, Clackmannanshire, Alva North, 631 votes (53.89 %) (elected) 2001 Westminster election, Ochil, 10,655 votes (30.18 %) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Falkirk East, 11,582 votes (32.89 %) 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Sixth on SNP Central Scotland list, 91,802 votes (27.78 %) 2003 Local council election, Clackmannanshire, Alva North, 745 votes (52.99 %) (elected) 1997 Westminster election, Falkirk East, 9,959 votes (23.94 %) 1996 Local council by-election, Clackmannanshire, Alva, 602 votes (46.70 %) (elected) 1994 European election, Lothians, 53,324 votes (26.46 %) 1992 Westminster election, Dundee West, 9,894 votes (23.64 %) | ||
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6. Professor Christopher Harvie (Also standing in Kirkcaldy constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Professor Christopher Harvie was born in Motherwell, Scotland on September 21 1944. His father was a schoolteacher and he grew up in the border village of St Boswells, where the family lived until 1958. Thereafter he attended the Royal high school and University of Edinburgh, graduating with first class honours in history in 1966 and being awarded his PhD for a thesis on university liberalism and democracy, 1860-1886. He taught at the Open University from 1969 until 1980 when he moved to the University of Tübingen in Germany to teach British and Irish Studies. Professor Harvie also has honorary chairs at Aberystwyth and Strathclyde. He has written on North Sea oil, the British political novel and European regionalisation. His books include Scottish history, Scotland and Nationalism, Deep Fried Hillman Imp: Scotland's Transport and Scotland: a Short History, and No Gods and Precious Few Heroes: Scotland since 1914. He was a member of the Labour party, and wrote a pamphlet in favour of the Scottish Assembly along with Gordon Brown in 1979. He co-edited the history of the Scotish Labour Party in 1988 but left the party a year later. In May 2006, he wrote in the Guardian: 'There are worse things than the break-up of Britain: a "British Islands" system - informally a confederation of sorts - whereby an independent England with its allies in the archipelago could exercise the same sort of voting power within Europe as Germany plus, say, Holland and Denmark, might turn out a very attractive option. Shot of the ghost of Britain, the Islands could remake West Europe.' Recent electoral experience | ||
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7. Roderick Campbell (Also standing in North East Fife constituency) |
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| Scottish National Party | ||
| Roderick Campbell was born in Edinburgh on 15 June 1953. He was educated at Reading School in Reading and gained his BA(Hons) in Politics from Exeter University. He has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from Strathclyde University. He went on to qualify as a solicitor, in both England and Wales and Scotland and is currently a Partner with a multi-national partnership of lawyers based in London. He is a member of the Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society of England and Wales. Roderick is Honorary Legal Adviser to a Citizens Advice Bureau. Roderick joined the SNP in 1995, having been a supporter for many years and has campaigned for Roseanna Cunningham in four elections in Perth. He is the current Vice Convener of the Perth South Branch of the SNP. Recent electoral experience 2005 Westminster election, North East Fife, 4,011 votes (10.40 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Roxburgh & Berwickshire, 2,816 votes (12.51 %) 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Eighth on SNP South of Scotland list, 48,371 votes (18.37 %) 2001 Westminster election, Roxburgh & Berwickshire, 2,806 votes (9.74 %) | ||
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8. Malcolm Balfour | |
| Scottish National Party | ||
| Malcolm joined the SNP in 1975 as a member of the recently formed Drumchapel Branch. From 1975 to 1980, he was a member of the Knightswood Branch where he worked closely with the 16 strong SNP Council group in Glasgow. During this time he held a number of posts locally within the SNP. He then moved to another area and joined the local branch where in 1993 he became convener a post he held for 9 years. Over the past 2 years Malcolm, a leading member of the SNP's Trade Union Group, has been working to bring the SNP & The Trade UNIONS closer together and has recently set up a series of successful meetings between both parties. He himself is a former shop steward in the TGWU and remains on his local committee.
Recent electoral experience 2005 Westminster election, Airdrie & Shotts, 5,484 votes, (16.54 %) 1997 Westminster election, Roxburgh & Berwickshire, 3,959 votes (11.33 %) | ||
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