Let’s take a whirlwind tour of my thoughts so far on the local election communications, a big factor in forming the decision on where I’ll be placing my cross on Thursday… actually it will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday as I’ve got a postal vote.
As someone who voted SNP at the Scottish Parliament election I find myself torn to support the independence cause in the upcoming election! The candidate, Rod Campbell, doesn’t seem to have much attachment to North East Fife. I’m sure Rod is a very amenable professional person but I cannot find evidence of any interest in North East Fife politics, issues or constituents.
Let’s look at his online biography to prove this point:
Rod Campbell is an Advocate. Born in Edinburgh, he was educated at Reading School, Exeter University and the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.
He has a degree in politics and qualified as a solicitor in both England and Scotland. For a number of years he was a partner in an international law firm based in London.
He qualified as an Advocate in 2007.
He is Convener of the Perth South branch of the party and a member of the party’s Appeals Committee. He has fought four previous elections for both the Westminster and the Scottish Parliaments.
Can anyone spot anything about North East Fife in there?
But wait there is some hope in the leaflet that has been coming through the letterboxes of NE Fife:
Rod has family ties to the East Neuk.
WTF does that mean? Did his Granny’s second cousin three times removed go to a dentist who was born in Fife! These kind of statements are absurd and show desperation to put something about Fife into an election communication.
More alarmingly he appears to have his political roots in Perth, not Fife! Perhaps that explains why his election leaflets are being delivered by Royal Mail and not the party faithful of Freuchie and surrounding areas.
What about that leaflet? A generic central office spiel that doesn’t highlight a single local issue. It also doesn’t help that he’s stuck way in the back of the SNP candidates photo which can only indicate the powers-that-be have decided he is one of the also rans with nae chance. It felt like a game of “Where’s Wally?” when trying to find him in amongst the other candidates.
Sorry SNP, your choice of candidate and the ill conceived and lazy election communication suggest to me my vote would not be for a local champion on this occasion.
Similar issues surround the choice of the Labour Party, Mark Hood. He is a councillor operating in Gordon Brown’s constituency. Although he appears to be a capable local politician he does look to be a townie with very strong ties to Lochgelly and surrounding areas – that’s two parliamentary constituencies away! The demographic, rural nature and issues of North East Fife are likely a million miles away from his experience earned as a councillor for Lochgelly and Cardenden.
Goodness, he doesn’t even have a filled in profile page on the main Labour Party website! Doesn’t really fill you with confidence about Mark Hood and his party.
Labour are a tired worn out party who really don’t deserve to be re-elected. There campaign slogan should be tweaked to: “Fighting for OUR future!”
This may be slightly irrational but I cannot ever see a time when I’ll be a Tory voter! Like the majority of Scots, we have long memories of how Maggie Thatcher and her cohorts destroyed Scotland, used us as a testing ground for the Poll Tax and the general contempt she had for the nation of Scotland. I also don’t believe in enough of their beliefs and key policies to place my mark in their box.
However, it is only fair to give Miles Briggs the same scrutiny as everyone else! I find his election communication to be a good mix of local and national issues which do at least look like a proper campaign. I’m also personally aware that he has been taking an active role in local issues throughout North East Fife, a big plus point. But it is unclear if he lives and works out of Fife… the election communications is carefully worded to give that impression but he could easily live and operate from anywhere in Scotland!
Finally we come to the incumbent, Sir Ming Campbell. He is one of the most respected politician at Westminster, has a sizeable majority, is highly respected in the NE Fife community, gives money and support to many local organisations and has a home in the constituency.
His election communications have also been a mix of local and national issues and have been hand delivered by party supporters – how’s it going Ewen!
He sent a letter out to the flood victims of Freuchie Mill following the 2008 floods with some very sound advice. Not really that sure of how much he has done by way of lobbying for flood issues since but he did make a token effort at a time when his constituents needed it.
It is disappointing to see his online resources not being used to put across more of the issues and policies. His main website hasn’t been updated in weeks!
CONCLUSION
Both the Labour Party and the SNP election communications are a massive disappointment and failure. The Conservatives and Lib Dems are showing the others how it should be done.
Sir Ming is certainly well ahead at the moment to win my vote. He’d need to have a “Gordon Brown Bigot” moment to change my mind!
Feel free to try to change my mind by posting a comment!!!
Technorati Tags: bigot, Conservative Party, election, Gordon Brown, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Mark Hood, Miles Briggs, Ming Campbell, North East Fife, Rod Campbell, SNP
