HOW quickly they forget. Colin Beattie, SNP candidate in Midlothian North & Musselburgh, was a councillor in a past life. So imagine our surprise to hear his view of councillors at a recent hustings. They are, apparently, all unemployed, unemployable or pensioners. One ex-councillor in the audience turned scarlet at the comment and took Mr Beattie to task. Let’s hope Mrs Beattie, who is also a councillor, never finds out. Oh dear, look what we just did.
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AT least Mr Beattie had an audience. Not so Lesley Hinds, Labour’s candidate in Edinburgh North & Leith, who tried to organise a “community empowerment” meeting in Newhaven. A grand total of two people turned up. And not even the traditional “and a dog” in tow.
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The SNP’s elusive Coatbridge & Chryston candidate Fulton ‘No Show’ MacGregor may be shy about meeting the public, but the same could never be said of local MP Phil Boswell, one of No Show’s enemies in the party’s Monklands McMafia feud. In recent days, Mr Boswell has Tweeted snaps of himself helping SNP candidates in Hamilton, Motherwell and Glasgow Provan. The subtext isn’t subtle - he’d rather canvass for anyone but No Show.
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WITH indigenous Conservatives being thin on the ground, a group of young Tories travelled up from York at the weekend to lend a hand. One arranged her accommodation via Airbnb. Perhaps they’d used an old picture in the marketing. For when she arrived she found 12 SNP posters filling the windows. Just how many posters do these Nationalists need? she asked her fellow Blues. For diplomatic reasons, she thought it best not to quiz her hosts.
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SUNDAY’S TV debate spawned the usual partisan tosh on Twitter - eg BBC bias / well worth the license fee etc. So the diary was cheered by the off-message comments from Joe McCauley, a Labour campaigner in Glasgow Cathcart. “Kez seems to [be] just pandering to the Nats and Indyref Yes voters,” he moaned at one point. “I like @willie_rennie ... Great wee burst of energy,” he added. Such refreshing honesty will surely catch the eye of Labour HQ.
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