Glasgow Cathcart by-election 2005

'I found the advent of New Labour, with its centralised control and lack of internal democracy, quite intolerable.' Ex Lord provost of Glasgow, Pat Lally, 12 th September 2005.

'Lazarus' Lally confirms plan to stand as independent

By Douglas Fraser and Robbie Dinwoodie, in the Herald 13 th September 2005

PAT Lally, the former Glasgow council leader known as Lazarus for his repeated returns from the political grave, is rising again in an effort to become an independent MSP for Glasgow Cathcart.

Yesterday, the 79-year-old lodged his nomination papers for the by-election on September 29, promising to make the battle to save the Victoria Infirmary the central part of his campaign.

The former Labour councillor already has the support of Scotland's sole pensioners' MSP and is expected to gain the backing of the other four independents at Holyrood. His entry is a blow to the Scottish National Party, as it had hoped to pick up votes shifting from Labour, but these can now be expected to split.

Mr Lally's attempt to win the seat as a hospitals candidate at the 2003 Holyrood election secured 2419 votes, or 11%, beating the Liberal Democrat candidate.

The winner then was Labour's Lord Watson, but this by-election was sparked by his resignation this month after he admitted a charge of fire-raising while drunk at a political awards dinner in a hotel.

Mr Lally, who was first elected a Labour councillor in Glasgow in 1966, became leader of the city council twice and then lord provost, aims to broaden his appeal from 2003, with employment and pensioner issues alongside hospitals.

He explained his move away from his former party: "I found the advent of New Labour, with its centralised control and lack of internal democracy, quite intolerable."

Today, both Labour and the SNP launch their Cathcart campaigns. The SNP responded to yesterday's announcement by Mr Lally saying the contest is "a two-horse race" between the two leading parties, and is keen to stress its candidate's credentials in the Victoria Infirmary campaign.

The Tories last night confirmed their candidate for the Cathcart seat would be Richard Cook, a 34-year-old waste services manager who lives in Clarkston.

Meanwhile, in Livingston, where a Westminster by-election on the same day was prompted by the death of Robin Cook, the SNP claimed St John's Hospital in the town needed full teaching status and a bigger catchment area if it was to be safeguarded. Angela Constance, the party's candidate, said: "Our aim is to stop centralisation to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary so that local people have access to the widest range of health services at St John's."

The SNP berated the LibDems as "bedfellows" of Labour, but the LibDems came out fighting, with Holyrood leader Nicol Stephen saying he believed the party would build on support it had in May.