 | 'Between 1997/1998 and the present, Government funding as a percentage of local spending has declined from 87% to 82%. Bearing in mind the 'gearing effect', this would always have required a combination of services cuts and council tax increases.' Colin Mair, director of the Scottish Local Authorities Management Centre at Strathclyde University, 15 th March 2000. |  |
Polmont is an essentially suburban ward on Falkirk council, lying to the south of Grangemouth and the M9.
Falkirk has been the site of some of the biggest betrayals in Scottish history. In 1298, the Scottish nobility deserted the Guardian of the Realm, Sir William Wallace, leaving his army to be overwhelmed by the archers and heavy cavalry of Edward I, Hammer of the Scots. Exactly seven hundred years later, there was another betrayal here when local Labour MP Denis Canavan was endorsed overwhelmingly by his own constituency party but rejected as a Labour candidate for the Scottish parliament by ultra-Blairite Rosemary McKenna's network cabal. Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar claimed that Canavan was 'simply not good enough.' The electorate of Falkirk West showed their utter contempt of New Labour gerrymandering by not simply electing Dennis Canavan as their MSP, but by electing him with the biggest majority of any MSP in the parliament. The official Labour candidate, Cllr Ross Martin, hid in the car park during a count which saw the Labour vote here fall by no less than 40.6 %. For once in Scottish electoral history, the will of the people had triumphed over seedy and cynical manipulators. Such is true democracy.
In recent years, Falkirk has been controlled by Labour, but its control has not always been solid. Back in October 1974, the late Dr Robert D. McIntyre (onetime MP for Motherwell) slashed Harry (now Lord) Ewing's majority over the SNP in Stirling, Falkirk & Grangemouth to 1,766. In neighbouring Stirlingshire West, Denis Canavan obtained the smallest Labour majority in Scotland - just 367 over the late Janette Jones of the SNP. In the 1977 District Council elections, the SNP built on these advances to win a crushing victory over Labour in Falkirk. Two years later, however, Labour made a come back in the regional elections, with Janette Jones losing her Kilsyth ward, and in 1980, the socialists regained control of the district council.
In the 1992 District Council elections, Labour and the Scottish National Party were almost neck and neck in Falkirk. Labour took 16 wards and 43.0 % of the vote while the SNP obtained 14 wards and 39.3 %. The balance of power was held by the 3 Conservative and 3 Independent Councillors.
In the 1995 Unitary Council elections, however, Labour made big advances and won outright control of the new Council. It won 23 wards with its vote up by 9.0 % to 52.0 %. The SNP representation was reduced to 8 councillors, although their vote only fell by 2.7 % to 36.6%. Independents won three wards and the Conservatives two.
The 1999 council elections saw the number of wards in Falkirk reduced from 36 to 32. However, Labour was the only party to have its representation reduced as it saw its percentage of the vote fall from 52.0 % to 42.5 %. Although it remained the largest party with 15 wards (down from 23 in 1995), from having an overall majority of 10, it was reduced to being in a minority of two compared to the opposition. The SNP increased their seats from 8 to 9, Independents went up from 3 to 5, the Conservatives stayed steady on two wards and an Independent Labour candidate won Denny.
In 1992, the Polmont ward was held for the Conservatives by Frances Hodge with a majority of 268 over Labour's G. Fitzpatrick. In 1995, the ward became Laurmont East for the Unitary Council elections and there was high drama when Frank Hodge was re-elected with a majority of just one over Labour's Moira Fitzpatrick. However, four otherwise good votes were declared void as an official had omitted to frank them. As two of these were for the SNP candidate and two for the Labour candidate the administrative error had cost Labour the ward. After a successful petition by Ms Fitzpatrick the election was declared void and rerun on the 17 th of August 1995. In this re-run, Frances Hodge won by a clear margin of 194 votes and was duly declared to be the Cllr for Laurmont East.
In 1999, the ward became Polmont once more and Frances Hodge obtained a majority of 218 over Labour's William Reid.
In this by-election, the Conservative Candidate was Malcolm Nicol who served for thirteen years on Falkirk District Council as Cllr for the Park ward, standing down in 1996. In 1995, the Conservatives did not contest the Park ward of Falkirk Unitary Council and it was won by Independent Patrick McCafferty. Malcolm Nicol won his previous seat from Labour in 1983 by 15 votes, but by the 1992 election he had gained the biggest majority (969) in the councils' history against Labour and SNP opponents. He took 1,159 votes (79 %) on a record 63 % turnout.
The Labour candidate was Betty Cook, another former Falkirk councillor. She represented the Ladysmill ward until she was defeated in May 1999. In 1995 she took 66.7 % of the vote in Ladysmill and had a 563 over the SNP in a three way fight involving Labour, the SNP and the Tories. After boundary changes had reduced the number of wards from 36 to 32 Cllr Cook found herself standing in the new ward of Middlefield against the SNP's David Alexander who had obtained 52.9 % and a majority of 99 over Labour in Victoria ward in 1995. David Alexander won Middlefield with a 378 majority, taking 56.7 % of the vote compared to 41.0 % for Elizabeth Cook.
The Scottish National Party again fielded George Williamson, who contested the ward in 1999, coming a close third with 26.1%, just 61 votes and 2.6 % behind Labour's William Reid. Not to be outdone, the Liberal Democrat also had a veteran candidate - Ron McArthur who stood for Laurmont East in April 1995 and the re-run of the election in August. On these occasions he took 71 votes (5.5 %) and 32 votes (1.8 %) respectively. The Scottish Socialist Party and an independent also contested the ward.
The result of the by-election was another triumph for Malcolm Nicol who increased the Conservative vote from 38.0 % to 52.6 % and their majority from 9.4 % to 32.3 %. In Polmont at least, there appears to have been a revival in the Conservatives' fortunes.
The SNP's George Williamson moved into second place with 20.2 % of the vote. An Independent candidate Durning came third with 12.3 %, beating Labour's Betty Cook into fourth place with just 11.8 % of the vote. Labour's humiliation was increased by the fact that their candidate was no inexperienced electoral tyro, but had been Labour councillor for Ladysmill until she was defeated by the SNP in 1999.
The Liberal Democrat's Ron McArthur took 20 votes (1.6 %), just one ahead of the Socialist Labour Party candidate, Watt.
Following the Conservative by-election hold of Polmont, the composition of Falkirk council is unchanged at 15 Labour, 9 Scottish National Party, 5 Independents, 2 Conservatives and 1 Independent Labour.
I am grateful to Cllr Malcolm Nicol for information concerning the by-election and for sending the result. Thanks to Nick McKerrell for pointing out that the 'Socialist' candidate was standing for Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party and not the Scottish Socialist Party.
22 nd June 2000 | 6 th May 1999 | ||||||
| Malcolm Nicol |  |
658 | 52.6 % | Frances Hodge | |
886 | 38.0 % |
| George Williamson |  |
253 | 20.2 % | William Reid |  |
668 | 28.7 % |
| Durning | Ind | 154 | 12.3 % | George Williamson | |
607 | 26.1 % |
| Elizabeth Cook | |
148 | 11.8 % | Marjory Biggs |  |
168 | 7.2 % |
| Ron McArthur | |
20 | 1.6 % | ||||
| Watt |  |
19 | 1.5 % | ||||
| Con hold | Con maj. | 405 | 32.3 % | Con win | Con maj. | 218 | 9.4 % |
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