Adventures in Glasgow East

Nominations are now closed for the Glasgow East by-election and apparently there are nine candidates in all. I'm not going to list them all, after all why would I offer publicity to anyone other than the excellent SNP candidate John Mason (pictured), but it is pretty clear that this contest is all about the SNP and the Labour Party which has represented the area since the 1920s. None of the others have a look in.

This by-election has generated much comment in the blogosphere, some of which has suggested that we shouldn't write off the other parties, the Liberal Democrats in particular. However, having been in Glasgow East quite a bit since the by-election was announced, I am able to say fairly confidently that the Liberals shouldn't be expending too much effort on this contest. I have found little evidence to suggest that they are going to attract very much support, and to be frank have identified more Tories in my canvassing efforts than I have Liberal Democrat supporters. I don't imagine I need to state the obvious about Tories themselves being thin on the ground in Glasgow East, so this tells a story in itself about what the Lib-Dem vote is likely to be on 24th July.

It has been a pleasure to campaign for John Mason in this campaign. I have known John for many years and he is a thoroughly decent individual. This has been often remarked upon by many people in the constituency, particularly in that part that John has represented for a decade on Glasgow City Council. That speaks for itself as to John's character.

I have found plenty of people who are going to come out and support the SNP for the first time in this by-election. The reasons have been a combination of three things. Firstly, they like John Mason for the reasons I outlined above, combined with the fact that he has a track record of standing up for people in the east end. Secondly, they are thoroughly scunnered with Labour, with many people having invested their political hopes in that party for their lifetimes, to see this loyalty rewarded with nothing in return. Thirdly, and most crucially, they have been impressed by the SNP in government. They have seen that the worst predictions of the unionists and their standard bearers in certain segments of the media that the sky would fall in if the SNP should ever come to power are utter nonsense. And more than that, they have seen an SNP government freeze the council tax and move to replace it with a fairer form of local taxation; lower prescription charges and move to abolish them; retain the accident and emergency department at Monklands Hospital; and move to get 1000 more police officers on the streets of Scotland.

In short they see an SNP government doing the types of things that they thought the Labour Party might, were they not a pale imitation of the force for social justice that they were founded to be.

This all adds up to making this the most interesting and exciting by-election I have ever campaigned in, and I am increasingly confident that John Mason and the SNP activists working for him and our party can deliver a historic victory on 24th July.

By the way, for those who are interested I am pictured with my pal Anne McLaughlin outside John's campaign headquarters on Baillieston Road after a shift campaigning in Glasgow East!