Falkirk West By-election 2000

'I don't lose any sleep about the possibility of Scotland becoming an independent nation state, provided the people of Scotland are not bounced into it.' Denis Canavan, 1 st October 2000

End game in by-election battle

From BBC Scotland News,20 th December 2000

Parties contesting the Falkirk West seat have been making a final surge for votes on the last day of campaigning before the by-election battle.

The five candidates held their final media conferences and took to the streets again to force home their key messages ahead of the poll.

In a last ditch attempt to win support, the candidates restated their credentials and launched attacks on rivals.

But they continued to face an added challenge of persuading voters to turn out just four days before Christmas.

Historically, turnouts for December by-elections have been low and mobilising support may be a problem.

Scottish Secretary, Dr John Reid said Labour had mounted a vigorous campaign which had addressed issues of importance in the constituency.

He accused the Scottish National Party of running a "vacuous" campaign and called on voters to turn out in strength for Thursday's vote.

SNP candidate David Kerr insisted he has an excellent chance of winning and said the party had strong support in the conctituency.

Mr Kerr accused Labour of failing to deliver on health issues and said this would be a decisive factor in how people voted.

The Conservatives viewed the by-election as a chance for people to register their discontent with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Liberal Democrats said they had a good record in coalition with Labour at Holyrood while the Scottish Socialists hoped their lengthy presence in Falkirk would deliver results.

Broken ranks

But for many local people the hustings have held little attraction in the run up to the festive period.

The build up to the by-election was very much a stop-start affair.

Outgoing independent MP Dennis Canavan had announced that he intended to give up the seat and concentrate his efforts on the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Canavan had broken ranks with Labour after the party failed to select him as a candidate for the seat at the Scottish parliamentary elections.

He won the Holyrood seat with a healthy majority but had made it clear that he might give up his place at Westminster.

After his announcement that he was standing down as an MP in October, parties began gearing up for the by-election.

But in November Mr Canavan said he was considering returning to the Labour fold and talks were taking place with the Labour hierarchy.

Then matters took a further twist, with the politician declaring that fresh evidence about his exclusion had come to light and he would be giving up the seat after all.

That added spice to the by-election and further interest was generated when ITV ended up in hot water over a live question and answer session with the prime minister.

Opposition parties complained that they should have been given similar exposure by the broadcaster in the run-up to the by-election.

The Independent Television Commission ruled that ITV should have given them the airtime to redress what it called the imbalance created by last week's screening of the programme.

Scottish Television broadcast a programme on Monday night featuring leading representatives from Labour's opponents.

- Dec 20