Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Tory leader David McLetchie laid the ghost of the Tories' wilderness years in Scotland by capturing the Edinburgh Pentlands seat from Enterprise Minister Iain Gray.' Ian Swanson, Scottish Political Editor in the Scotsman, 2 nd May 2003.

Edinburgh South West

Candidates

	Labour	Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
	Scottish National Party	Nicholas Elliott-Cannon
	Conservative & Unionist	Gordon Buchan
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Simon Clark
	Scottish Socialist Party	Patricia Smith
	Scottish Green Party	Dr John Blair-Fish
	UK Independence Party	Dr William Boys

The Labour candidate is the Rt Hon Alistair Darling, presently MP for Edinburgh Central. Darling was born in London in 1953 and was educated at Loretto School in Musselburgh and Aberdeen University. He worked as a solicitor and an advocate and was also a member of Lothian Regional Council from 1982 until his election in 1987, when he won Edinburgh Central seat from Tory, Sir Alex Fletcher. Darling's great uncle was Sir William Young Darling, the Tory MP for Edinburgh South from 1945 until his retiral in 1957. Alistair Darling was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a cabinet post, upon Labour's return to power in May 1997, with his beard being sacrificed to New Labour image requirements. In July 1998 he became Secretary of State for Social Security (Work & Pensions) and in May 2002 became Secretary of State for Transport. He also became, almost as an afterthought, Secretary of State for Scotland on the 13 th June 2003, just one day after Tony Blair had abolished the post. Alistair Darling's Central constituency has been abolished in the current changes, with a third of the new Edinburgh South West seat coming from the old Edinburgh Central, and the old Edinburgh Pentlands seat making up the remaining two thirds. As expected, Edinburgh Pentlands MP, Dr Lynda Clark QC, has decided to step down to allow the Transport Secretary to stand here.

The Scottish National Party candidate is Mr Nick Elliott-Cannon. Nick is a native of Edinburgh and lives and works in the new South West constituency. He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with a Joint Honours BA in Philosophy and Politics. Having previously worked in the financial sector and in marketing, he now works for NHS Scotland. When not campaigning for independence, Nick spends his time reading and walking (though not usually at the same time). He is also a keen follower of the local football team in Gorgie! This election will be Nick's first as a parliamentary candidate, though he did stand for the SNP Edinburgh City Council in 2003 when he halved Labour's majority in that ward.

The Tory candidate is Gordon Buchan. Gordon was born in Perth in 1974 and was educated at Morrison's Academy in Crieff, Perthshire. Gordon studied Civil and Transportation Engineering at Napier University in Edinburgh, where he also gained a postgraduate MSc in Transportation Planning, in addition to his first degree. Gordon now works as a Principal Engineer for an international firm of consulting engineers in Edinburgh and specialises in the transport planning aspects of new developments across the UK. Gordon is a keen model engineer and has helped restore a mainline steam locomotive to working condition. He enjoys walking, reading and listening to music. Gordon has lived in Edinburgh since 1992. At the 1999 Scottish parliamentary elections he stood in Dundee West, coming third with 11.50 %. He has twice contested Edinburgh South, firstly at the 2001 Westminster election when he came third with 16.61 %, and at the 2003 Scotish parliamentary elections when he again came third with 16.60 %. In 2003 he was also third on the Tory list for the Lothians.

The Lib Dem candidate, Dr Simon Clark, was born in 1954 and was educated at Clifton College and Henbury Comprehensive in Bristol and at the London School of Economics where he graduated with a BSc, an MSc and a PhD. He works as a senior lecturer in Economics and is married with one daughter. His interests include Economic policy, Education, keeping fit and history. He was a candidate for Edinburgh City Council in 2003 and also contested Edinburgh Pentlands at the 2003 Scottish parliamentray election, coming fourth with 11.8 %.

The SSP candidate is Pat Smith, who has spent many years campaigning locally against cuts in services and in support of workers in struggle. A former drama teacher, she now works in childcare and is a member of the teachers' union, the EIS. She is an active member of the Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition and Edinburgh CND, and has been involved in building the Make Poverty History demo in Edinburgh in opposition to this year's G8.

The Scottish Green Party candidate is Dr John Blair-Fish who studied at Oxford then obtained a Meteorology PhD at Edinburgh University where he now works as a computing officer. John chairs the Edinburgh World Development Movement and has been active in campaigns on debt and fair trade. He is also an active Church member, a keen cyclist and hill runner.

The UK Independence Party candidate is Dr William Boys. He has worked in farming, served in the armed forces and spent fifteen years in academic research, holding a doctorate from Oxford. He is now self employed as a landscape gardener. He first campaigned for UKIP in 1996, and believes that Britain should resist domination by the European Union.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	19,707	44.40 %		19,038	43.98 %
	Conservative & Unionist	11,756	26.49 %		11,352	26.22 %
	Scottish National Party	5,932	13.37 %		5,910	13.65 %
	Liberal Democrat	5,179	11.67 %		5,052	11.67 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,009	2.27 %		1,122	2.59 %
	Others	799	1.80 %		814	1.88 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	7,951	17.91 %		7,686	17.76 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the old Edinburgh Pentlands seat, with the exception of South Morningside, which was shared with the old Edinburgh South seat and Fairmilehead, both of which go to the new Edinburgh South constituency. The constituency also includes four wards from the old Edinburgh Central seat.