Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'I have no intention of joining the Labour Party. I made it absolutely clear three years ago I would not rejoin as long as Tony Blair is leader and that is still my position.' Independent MSP Dennis Canavan, 4 th January 2004.

Falkirk

Candidates

	Labour	Major Eric Joyce MP
	Scottish National Party	Laura Love
	Conservative & Unionist	David Potts
	Liberal Democrat	Callum Chomczuk
	Scottish Socialist Party	Danny Quinlan

Candidates

The Labour candidate is the 'Galloping Major', Eric Joyce, who narrowly held held Falkirk West seat in December 2000 after the resignation of Dennis Canavan, Independent MP for Falkirk West. Canavan was one of only nine of the 56 Scottish Labour Party MPs who wished to stand for the Scottish Parliament. Like Michael Connarty in neighbouring Falkirk East and Ian Davidson in Glasgow Govan he was rejected by Rosemary McKenna's vetting committee as 'simply not good enough.' Canavan went on to stand as an Independent in the Scotish Parliament and obtained the largest majority of any MSP in 1999. Joyce was born in Perth in 1960 and was educated at Perth High School, Perth Academy, Perth Further Education College and finally religous studies at Stirling University. He worked as an army officer at Sandhurst military college but resigned in 1998 after criticising racism, sexism and class discrimination in the forces. A blindly loyal Blairite who is enthusiastic about absolutely everything New Labour has ever done, Joyce was described as 'an embarrassing sycophant' by the ex Labour deputy leader, Roy Hattersley. At the 1999 Scottish parliamentary elections, Joyce was 7 th on Labour's list for Central Scotland. In December 2000, he held Falkirk West with a 705 majority over the Scottish National Party's David Kerr, down from 13,783 for Dennis Canavan in 1997. In 2001, he increased his majority to 8,532.

The SNP candidate is Laura Love. Laura is the current National Convener of the Federation of Student Nationalists and is an experienced activist both within the student wing and the Scottish National Party itself. During the local elections of May 2003, Laura stood as SNP candidate for Newarthill in North Lanarkshire, a short distance from her native Airdrie, where she was born in 1980. An honours student at Glasgow University, Laura studies Scottish History and Celtic Civilisation, with a perhaps unsurprising interest in the development of Cultural, Linguistic and Political Nationalism. Laura briefly studied Mechanical Engineering at Strathclyde University before embarking on a career as a Corporate Interior Designer where she enjoyed success in projects both at home and abroad over a four year period. Other than her passion for Scottish Independence, Laura is a dedicated Malt Whisky enthusiast and a passionate supporter of her local football team.

The Tory candidate is David Potts, who is currently at university. He was elected to the Council at the age of 21.

The Lib Dem candidate is Callum Chomczuk who was born in 1982 and educated at Falkirk High School and the University of Glasgow. He has worked as media monitor for Elspeth Attwooll MEP, as political intern to Robert Brown MSP, and as a claims adjuster with the Capita Group. He is single and lives in Edinburgh. His interests include running, 5-asides, and theatre.

The SSP candidate is Danny Quinlan who is aged 24 and is one of Scotlandâs youngest candidates. He was born and bred in Banknock and works as postal worker in Denny where he is also a union rep. Danny has been involved in campaigns to save local hospital services in Falkirk. He has also fought to scrap the Council Tax and to challenge local MP, Eric Joyce, over the disastrous war in Iraq.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	24,147	53.75 %		24,148	52.70 %
	Scottish National Party	10,592	23.58 %		10,699	23.35 %
	Conservative & Unionist	3,785	8.43 %		4,225	9.22 %
	Liberal Democrat	3,063	6.82 %		3,473	7.58 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,025	2.28 %		975	2.13 %
	Others	2,311	5.14 %		2,305	5.03 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	13,555	30.17 %		13,449	29.35 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the whole of the old Falkirk West seat including a ward shared with the old Falkirk East seat, and six wards from the old Falkirk East seat.