 | 'Dennis Canavan recalled how First Minister Donald Dewar said he had been rejected by Labour not because of his political beliefs, but because he 'was not good enough'. Mr Canavan insisted the 'petty, silly remark' had simply increased his majority. He added: 'The Labour machine will be wheeling in Ministers to do a character assassination on Ken (Livingstone) but the whole exercise could be counterproductive. I still think he will win.'' Michael Settle in the Herald, 8 th March 2000. |  |
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Iain Hunter |  |
| Scottish Socialist Party | ||
| Iain Hunter is a 32-year-old community care worker from Denny. He is the secretary of the Scottish Socialist Party's Falkirk Branch. Mr Hunter is a former Labour activist in the constituency who resigned from the party in protest at the decision not to select Mr Canavan as a Labour candidate for the Scottish parliament elections in 1999. Recent electoral experience 1999 Scottish election: Number four on Central Scotland regional list, 5,739 votes (1.7 %). | ||
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Major Eric Joyce |  |
| Labour | ||
| Eric Joyce is a 40 year old former army major who hit the headlines before the Scottish Parliament elections when the Ministry of Defence demanded his resignation because he was becoming a party political activist. He taught in the Education Corps while on Labour's approved list of Holyrood hopefuls and was told that if he did not go voluntarily within two months, he would cease to be a soldier automatically. Mr Joyce threatened an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Later he became public affairs officer of the Commission for Racial Equality in Edinburgh. Mr Joyce has been described as 'the most New Labour of New Labour candidates'. The BBC reports that Mr Joyce 'is the son of a postman and entered the public arena when he condemned elitism and snobbery in the army. He left school without any qualifications and by his own admission, he was a teenage troublemaker who was expelled from his first secondary school and fined £30 for assaulting a first-year probationary science teacher.' Recent electoral experience 1999 Scottish election: Number seven on Central Scotland regional list, 129,822 votes (39.28 %) | ||
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David Kerr |  |
| Scottish National Party | ||
| David Kerr, aged 27, is the former editor of the BBC's Newsnight Scotland programme. Mr Kerr is a graduate of St Andrew University. He is a past national convener of the SNP's student wing and has been a member of the party's national executive. Recent electoral experience | ||
| Hugh O'Donnell |  | |
| Liberal Democrat | ||
| Hugh O'Donnell is a 48 year old father of two. He is currently constituency assistant to Lib Dem Central Scotland MSP Donald Gorrie and was formerly a lecturer at Falkirk College and a community care professional.
Recent electoral experience 1999 Scottish election: Number ten on Central Scotland regional list, 20,505 votes (6.20 %) | ||
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Craig Stevenson |  |
| Conservative & Unionist | ||
| Craig Stevenson, aged 37, is married with two children. A former plumber, Mr Stevenson is a lecturer in plumbing services at Cardonald College in Glasgow.
Recent electoral experience 1999 Scottish election, East Kilbride 4,465 votes (10.8 %) | ||
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