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Category Archives: Scotland

Opinion: A Scottish candidate’s view

By Keith Legg | Tue 10th May 2011 - 1:54 pm

Days have now passed since the last result for the Scottish Parliament was declared. At least that provided a bit of happy news; my local colleague and former Dunfermline MP Willie Rennie was elected as the last MSP from the Mid Scotland and Fife regional list. But frankly, what went on in the 18 hours prior to that was not much short of a horror show – I never thought that “Losing Deposits” would ring true again.

Normally, after a drubbing like that, attention turns to the campaign itself and where it all went wrong. This time, though, there’s no real …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged avalanche of abuse, jo grimond, mountain, orkney, shetland and tavish scott | 23 Comments

Ouch! Lib Dems suffer first anti-government backlash in 80 years

By Stephen Tall | Fri 6th May 2011 - 8:50 am

The words ‘Good morning’ may seem overly ironic if you’re a Lib dem waking up this morning to the news of the party’s pretty awful 2011 election results. Here’s a quick round-up for those who’ve avoided the media so far today…

Scotland: a huge night for the SNP, with the Lib Dems and Labour both suffering a rout at the hands of the nationalists. With 59 of 73 results declared, the Lib Dems have just four seats, a loss of seven. It sounds like the party will end up with six MSPs, down from 16.

Wales: a good night for Labour, who …

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Also posted in Local government and Wales | 80 Comments

The LDV election results open thread

By The Voice | Thu 5th May 2011 - 10:20 pm

Here are the starting positions (as Stephen’s already described):

Scotland: the party is defending 16 seats (11 constituency MSPs, and five regional list MSPs), which was a drop of one compared to 2003. There are 129 contested seats for the Scottish Parliament.

Wales: the party is defending six seats (3 constituency AMs, and three regional list AMs), which was the same as in 2003. There are 60 contested seats for the Welsh assembly.

In the English local elections:

1,876 of the 3,948 Liberal Democrat councillors (48%) have been defending their seats today in –

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Also posted in Local government and Wales | Tagged av referendum and leicester south by-election | 29 Comments

What will happen in today’s elections? Your thoughts, please…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 5th May 2011 - 7:15 pm

Today, in case you hadn’t noticed, is election day. There are national elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and local elections for 279 councils across England. And of course there’s the referendum to determine the voting system used for elections to Westminster.

Four years ago, in 2007, the Liberal Democrats were a party of opposition. Today, we’re in a Coalition government. Let’s recap the starting positions…

Scotland: the party is defending 16 seats (11 constituency MSPs, and five regional list MSPs), which was a drop of one compared to 2003. There are 129 contested seats for the Scottish parliament.

Wales: the party …

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Also posted in Local government and Wales | 12 Comments

Michael Moore writes… An ambitious liberal agenda

By Michael Moore | Fri 22nd April 2011 - 10:27 am

A year ago I thought I travelled a lot on the campaign trail in the general election. With a constituency of about 1,500 square miles it was of course a necessity.

But this year I really know how long that trail can be.

Supporting colleagues across Scotland in the build up to the Parliamentary election on 5th May, I have covered over 1,500 miles in ten days. Many others have done the same, or indeed more, but I doubt many have seen the spectacular contrasts in scenery and political geography that I have enjoyed in that time.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are fighting hard …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged tavish scott | Leave a comment

Opinion: An American Student in an Edinburgh Election – inside Alex Cole-Hamilton’s campaign

By Jillian Gorelick | Thu 7th April 2011 - 7:25 pm

It is fairly common in American Universities for 3^rd year students to go abroad for a semester. Although I had many options, I eventually decided to come to Edinburgh, Scotland to intern with the Scottish Parliament. The way my program is structured is that there was class for five weeks, an internship in parliament for 4, then once parliament dissolved we began working on a campaign up until polling day. So that’s how, on March 22^nd I came to be working with Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh Central. When I first met Alex I was sitting in …

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Also posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton, caron lindsay, Edinburgh Central and guest editor | Leave a comment

Jeremy Purvis: Creating an ambitious, compassionate and fair Scotland

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 7th April 2011 - 4:29 pm

I caught up with Scottish Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesman Jeremy Purvis at the manifesto launch on Tuesday and asked him what a Liberal Democrat Scotland looked like.

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Also posted in News | Tagged caron lindsay, guest editor and jeremy purvis | 9 Comments

Opinion: The First Time Candidate’s View

By Callum Leslie | Thu 7th April 2011 - 3:26 pm

Being a first time candidate is a daunting experience, but a hugely rewarding and humbling one.

I was one of the youngest people to ever go through the candidate approval process, at just 17. Many people were surprised that I bothered, given I couldn’t stand for election yet anywhere, but in all honesty, I wanted to get it done and out of the way, so that when opportunities (such as the one I’m about to describe) occurred, I would be able to take full advantage. My advice to others is don’t wait for that ideal seat to come up before you …

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Also posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged callum leslie, caron lindsay and guest editor | 5 Comments

Opinion: Scottish Liberal Democrats’ ambitious manifesto plans to create 100,000 jobs

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 7th April 2011 - 12:15 pm

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to be invited along to the launch of the Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto which took place in the beautiful town of Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders.

The venue, Caerlee Mill, had been chosen to highlight key pledges to boost business and economic growth, but, as the BBC’s Brian Taylor said, “The venue had been chosen to symbolise economic renewal – but, on the day, it also spotlighted the concept of triumph over adversity.”

There are three main themes to the manifesto. When leader Tavish Scott …

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Tagged caron lindsay and guest editor | 11 Comments

Pollwatch – State of the Parties: Lib Dems 11%, Labour 40%, Tories 36% (April 2011)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 4th April 2011 - 8:00 am

Well, it’s been a while since last the Voice rounded-up the polls — but with Scottish/Welsh/local elections just weeks away, it’s time to dust down our spreadsheets and take a look at the current states of the parties.

A total of 35 polls were published during March. Now, as our readers know, LDV doesn’t cover them with the same breathless excitements as other parts of the media. Most poll movements are within the margin of error, so it is only looked at over a period of time that you can detect whether there has really been any significant movements between the …

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Also posted in Local government, Polls and Wales | Tagged pollwatch | 18 Comments

Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate quits to stand as an independent

By Mark Pack | Sat 26th March 2011 - 10:46 pm

The Press Association reports:

A top Liberal Democrat candidate for Holyrood has resigned from the party.

Hugh O’Donnell was Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland before the start of campaigning earlier this month for the Scottish Parliament elections.

It is understood he was unhappy with the direction of the party in Scotland and the coalition in Westminster.

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: “We have accepted Hugh O’Donnell’s resignation.”

Hugh O’Donnell has been pretty critical of the party for some time, so much so that seeing some of his comments made to posts of mine on Facebook I did a double-take wondering if his Facebook …

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Also posted in News | Tagged hugh o'donnell | 22 Comments

A whistlestop tour of Scottish Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 11th March 2011 - 10:27 am

Scottish Liberal Democrats gathered in Perth last weekend for their Spring Conference. I thought that LDV readers might appreciate edited highlights of a lively weekend.

It was a bit strange to turn up to find a huge area around the Perth Concert Hall cordoned off, airport style security and Police everywhere. We’re not used to this sort of thing.

Leader Tavish Scott’s keynote speech hammered home our USP in the forthcoming Scottish election campaign – only the Scottish Liberal Democrats will speak out against a political power grab. SNP, Tories and Labour advocate merging eight police forces to just one. Tavish also …

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Also posted in News | Tagged alex white, av referendum, Danny Alexander, malcolm bruce, Michael Moore, nick clegg and tavish scott | 2 Comments

Opinion: Cutting Crime in Scotland’s Festival City

By Paul Edie | Wed 2nd March 2011 - 11:08 am

Close partnership working and information sharing between agencies at a local level has contributed strongly to reductions in crime and anti social behaviour in Lib Dem led Edinburgh.

Scotland Capital, with its strong night time economy and festivals, has enjoyed reduced crime and antisocial behaviour in recent years. New shift patterns, leading to more officers being deployed where they are needed and when they are needed, have contributed to the reduction in crime. Co-located police officers, joint patrols with environmental wardens and information sharing between statutory agencies have also helped. Much of the improvement is also down to an …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged crime, neighbourhood working and Scotland | Leave a comment

Bill Aitken resigns over gang rape comments

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 21st February 2011 - 7:28 pm

Bill Atiken, the Conservative Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, has tonight resigned over comments he made to the Sunday Herald regarding a series of particularly horrific rapes in Glasgow.

He implied that the victim of a gang rape in a City Centre lane could have been a prostitute, and that “the police say that there’s a lot of drunken carry ons that lead to rape allegations which are subsequently dropped, put it that way.” His comments were first reported eight days ago, and although Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie sought to distance herself from them, she took …

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Also posted in News | Tagged annabel goldie, bill aitken and robert brown | 2 Comments

Michael Moore writes… Clash of the Elections 2015 – Let the Devolved Nations Choose

By Michael Moore | Sun 20th February 2011 - 3:55 pm

It’s rare to have an election-free year these days but 2015 is set – for the moment – to be a voters’ bonanza in Scotland and Wales. Fixed, four-year terms at Holyrood will coincide with the end of the first fixed five year term at Westminster, meaning two national elections in the devolved nations. Unless Scotland and Wales decide otherwise.

On Thursday, the government wrote to the Presiding Officers and party leaders in Scotland and Wales, offering them the chance to move the date of their respective Parliament and Assembly elections. This follows a period of consultation between the two sides. For 2015, …

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Also posted in Op-eds | 10 Comments

Why hasn’t David Cameron sacked Bill Aitken?

By Mark Pack | Fri 18th February 2011 - 5:55 pm

At the start of the week Caron Lindsay blogged about the case of Conservative MSP Bill Aitken:

The Tories are usually very supportive of victims of crime … Unfortunately, their sympathy for victims doesn’t seem to extend to the crime of rape. Shadow Tory minister for Community Safety in the Scottish Parliament Bill Aitken has apparently asked the Sunday Herald whether a victim of an horrendous rape in Glasgow earlier this week was a prostitute. This woman was dragged down a lane by 3 men and raped. This was the latest in a series of similar assaults in Glasgow.

As the …

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Also posted in News | Tagged bill aitken and caron lindsay | 9 Comments

Scotland gets a better budget thanks to the Liberal Democrats

By Andrew Reeves | Thu 10th February 2011 - 8:55 am

I’m so proud to be a Liberal Democrat today

As both a member of staff with over ten years service and a party member even longer, the last eight months or so have often been difficult with the media developing an acid tongue against us many times.

But yesterday in Scotland we had some exciting news.

Yesterday was the day when the Scottish Parliament approved the budget.

It is a better budget because of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, after securing concessions to the budget on college bursaries and places, modern apprenticeships and support for Post Offices across Scotland.

This is a better budget. It’s …

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Also posted in News | Tagged liam burns and tavish scott | 2 Comments

Labour and the SNP’s judgement in Megrahi case completely wrong – Campbell

By Mark Pack | Mon 7th February 2011 - 8:25 pm

Lib Dem MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Ming Campbell has been commenting on the revelations about the Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi case:

The Labour government completely failed to take into account the horrific nature of the crime, the consequences and the sentence imposed when it took the view that it could assist the release of Mr Megrahi.

Equally in Scotland, the Justice Secretary failed to take account of these three significant factors when reaching a conclusion about the exercise of compassion.

If both had paid proper attention, the Labour government would not have been so embroiled and the Scottish

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged abdelbaset ali al-megrahi and Ming Campbell | 9 Comments

Government presses ahead with devolving more powers to Scotland

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th January 2011 - 10:55 am

The coalition agreement’s commitment to devolve more powers from Westminster to Scotland was one aspect that helped it win strong support from Scottish Liberal Democrats as further devolution has been a long-running Lib Dem demand. Now the Scotland Bill is moving through Parliament to turn those commitments into action.

The BBC reports:

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the Scotland Bill, giving Holyrood increased responsibility for borrowing, would bring a new phase in devolution.

Mr Moore said the legislation contained the right balance of powers and would give Holyrood greater accountability…

The most eye-catching proposals in the Scotland Bill are plans to give Holyrood

…

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Also posted in News | Tagged devolution, Michael Moore and scotland bill | 5 Comments

Calls to end alphabetic ordering of candidates on Scottish local election ballot papers

By Mark Pack | Fri 31st December 2010 - 11:24 am

It’s a well established pattern that candidates with names higher up the alphabet do slightly better in multi-member ward elections in the UK than those with names further down the alphabet. Other factors (including the perceived ethnicity and gender of a name, along with other information such as the party label) usually have a larger effect, but there is something of an alphabetic effect all the same.

New research has shown this to be the case in the first STV local council elections held in Scotland, leading to calls for change.

The Scotsman reports:

Across Scotland there were 247 cases where candidates

…

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Also posted in Election law, Local government and News | 3 Comments

Michael Moore writes… Strengthening Scotland’s future

By Michael Moore | Wed 1st December 2010 - 1:58 pm

Yesterday the Government published its Scotland Bill. When this becomes law, a second and exciting phase in Scottish devolution will begin. We are strengthening Scotland’s future based on three principles: empowerment, accountability and stability.

This Bill starts its parliamentary process with the support of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Each of our parties – plus business and civil society – contributed to the Calman Commission, which drew up the blueprint for it. It is right that change of this sort should be built on a broad consensus. But now it is this government that …

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Also posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments

Tavish Scott writes… The SNP budget is too severe on services but too soft on waste

By Tavish Scott MSP | Fri 26th November 2010 - 10:54 am

The Scottish Government has published its budget. But it’s for one year not three! No SNP Minister can explain why it was right for nationalists in Wales to produce figures for three years but not for the SNP Government in Scotland.

SNP Ministers say they can’t give a four-year budget because they have just set up a public service reform group. That’s code for “we don’t know what to do but whatever we do will be after next May’s Election. Yet the SNP have known the broad numbers for months.

After all, Alex Salmond wrote to Vince Cable on 12th February to say, …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged alex salmond and jeremy purvis | 2 Comments

Changes coming to Scottish Parliament election rules

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th October 2010 - 7:15 pm

The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2010 has been tabled in Parliament this week bringing about changes in the law for the Scottish Parliament elections. As it is a Statutory Instrument (SI) it cannot be amended – either it gets Parliamentary approval or it is rejected outright. It is extremely rare for an SI to be rejected and there are no signs that this one will be in that class.

The main changes people can therefore expect for the next Scottish Parliament elections are:

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Also posted in Election law | Tagged scottish parliament | 3 Comments

Opinion: How we transformed council housing in Perth and Kinross

By Peter Barrett | Thu 14th October 2010 - 10:10 pm

Cllr Peter Barrett is Perth and Kinross Council’s Housing and Health Convenor. He was once described in the local newspaper as the “Saviour of Tay Street” after defeating a previous administration’s car parking plans. Here he describes how he has transformed the housing service for the better. I’ve always thought that housing is one of the most important issues to sort. In fact, I’d say that there’s little point in the Pupil Premium if the kids it’s there to support don’t have warm, dry, comfortable homes to live in and enough food to eat. It’s hard to learn if you’re …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged guest editor, housing and perth and kinross council | 1 Comment

Helping children with allergies and Nigeria with Climate Change – all in a year’s work! Interview with Jo Swinson MP, part 3

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th October 2010 - 9:35 pm

Welcome to the third and final part of my interview with Jo Swinson MP. I hope you don’t mind the fact that it’s so long. I just sometimes think that blog interviews are quite short and sometimes it’s nice to have a more in depth chat. I’ve written it pretty much exactly as she said it so it’s real conversation. Think of this as the Hello multi page spread without the photographs. The plain text is my bit and the italics are her’s.

Not that I’m stalking Jo or anything, but I do have a They Work for You alert for …

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Also posted in News | Tagged guest editor and Jo Swinson | Leave a comment

Sport, body confidence and gender stereotyping – Interview with Jo Swinson MP, part 2

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th October 2010 - 9:14 pm

As mum of an 11 year old daughter, I’m really worried about the pressures on her to look a certain way, so Jo’s and Lynne Featherstone’s Campaign for Body Confidence is very close to my heart. I asked Jo – what’s happening with it?

Jo: It’s really exciting about this. Lynne and I had always planned to continue it after the election but we hadn’t reckoned on her being Minister for Equalities which is a great boost. We’ve had a steering group meeting and we’ve got Mumsnet, BEAT, the eating disorders charity, Girl Guiding UK, the YMCA who do all sorts …

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Also posted in News | Tagged guest editor, Jo Swinson and lynne featherstone | Leave a comment

Door knocking, Deputy Leader and Honourable Friends – Interview with Jo Swinson MP

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th October 2010 - 8:18 pm

This afternoon, I had a chat with Jo Swinson, MP for East Dunbartonshire, new Deputy Leader of the Scottish Party. Now that I’m going all high tech, I actually recorded it. Or, at least, my 11 year old daughter set up the voice recorder on the laptop and showed me how to work it. This is a great way to interview someone because you can have a proper chat and don’t have to worry about taking notes. I’d asked Jo for a five minute chat and we actually talked for 21 minutes, covering everything from the vibe on the doorsteps …

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Also posted in News | Tagged guest editor and Jo Swinson | Leave a comment

George Lyon: Our high hopes for the Scottish Parliament elections

By George Lyon MEP | Thu 14th October 2010 - 5:55 pm

George Lyon MEP is Chair of the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ Election Group. He was elected in 2009 and details of his campaigns on subjects such as fair deal for rural drivers, disabilities, food labelling and can be found on his website www.georgelyon.org.uk. Here he writes about the Party’s prospects and priorities in next year’s election.

What a year it has been for Liberal Democrats.

This time last year, I don’t think anyone in their heart of hearts believed that Liberals would form part of the government for the first time since 1945.

But this time last year we did have the right …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged guest editor | 3 Comments

Opinion: We should be ambitious in our campaigning

By Katy Gordon | Thu 14th October 2010 - 4:55 pm

Katy Gordon fought Glasgow North in the General Election in May and is now the top candidate on the Glasgow Regional list for the Holyrood elections in May. In this inspiring article, she shows how her team’s “yes we can” attitude paid dividends, increasing membership by 150%.

When I started campaigning in June 2007 as PPC for the target seat of Glasgow North, I had very little idea of how to go about it. All I knew was I was fed up with Labour taking the people of Glasgow for granted, that the Lib Dems had real potential to grow in …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged guest editor, hugh waterfield, jamie mchale and vince cable | 16 Comments

Opinion: The day the Northern Irish came to Scottish Conference

By Stephen Glenn | Thu 14th October 2010 - 4:25 pm

For many years now I have attended Scottish Liberal Democrat conference as a Northern Irish person. I’m not alone as there are many familiar accents scattered across the Scottish parties of other Northern Irish born members.

However, last weekend was the first time I attended as a Northern Irish local party member, but again I was not alone. I’d travelled over with the local party chair Michael Carchrie Campbell and one of our youth members Stephen McFarland had travelled down with the rest of the Aberdeen University crew.

It was a good conference for us all to get to, even though Michael …

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged guest editor, michael carchrie campbell and stephen mcfarland | Leave a comment

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