Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'I was prominent in the Labour Party when Tony Blair was just an ugly rumour.' Independent Labour MP, George Galloway, 23 rd October 2003. (Tony Blair's student band was called Ugly Rumours.)

Glasgow Central

Candidates

	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar MP
	Scottish National Party	Bill Kidd
	Conservative & Unionist	Richard Sullivan
	Liberal Democrat	Isabel Nelson
	Scottish Socialist Party	Marie Gordon
	Scottish Green Party	Gordon Masterton
	Socialist Labour Party	Ian Johnson
	Communist Party of Great Britain	Elinor McKenzie
	British National Party	Walter Hamilton
	Operation Christian Vote	Rev Tom Greig

Candidates

The Labour candidate is Mohammad Sarwar MP. He became the Labour candidate for Glasgow Govan after two bitter and drawn out selection battles with the then Glasgow Central MP, Mike Warson, now Lord Watson of Invergowrie. Sarwar was elected as MP for Glasgow Govan in 1997 with a 2,904 majority over the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon. Soon after his election, he was suspended pending investigations of electoral irregularities, but in 1999, Sarwar was cleared and re-instated as a Labour MP. In 2001, Sarwar was re-elected with an increased majority of 6,400 over the SNP's Karen Neary.

The SNP candidate is Bill Kidd. Bill joined the SNP in 1983 and again in 1999. He has been a Westminster parliamentary candidate, contesting Glasgow Hillhead in 1987 and Cunninghame South in 2001, as well as Glasgow Anniesland in the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary elections. Bill is a trade unionist; 48 years of age; single, and lives in the West End of Glasgow. Bill says, 'I will be fighting this election on a platform that aims to get our troops out of Iraq, increase the state pension to £110pw and restore the link with earnings and also to protect our hospital services from centralisation.'

The Conservative candidate is Richard Sullivan. Richard was educated at Stirling University where he gained a BA Hons in Politics and a Post Graduate in Technology Management. He has chaired the City of Stirling branch in the Stirling constituency and is chairman of the constituencies Policy Committee. Richard works as a management consultant and has a professional knowledge and experience within economic development and is interested in inner city problems. Richard looks forward to campaigning on these issues and many others in Glasgow Central.

The Lib Dem candidate is Isabel Nelson who was born in 1940 and studied politics and economics. She has worked as a director, is widowed with four children, and lives in Edinburgh. She was a council candidate in 1982 and 1984 and in 1983 she contested Glasgow Central for the Liberals, coming third with 16.7 %. She also contested Glasgow Pollock twice, firstly at the 2001 Westminster election, when she came fourth with 6.38 %, and at the Scottish parliamentary election in 2003 when she came fifth with 4.47 %. In 2003 she was also third on the Lib Dem's Glasgow list.

The SSP candidate Marie Gordon is 48, lives in Glasgow with her partner and their teenage daughter. She works as a Senior Child Development Team Leader and played a leading role in the Nursery Nurses' strike of 2004. Working in early years education for almost 28 years, in many of GlasgowÕs multi-deprived areas, Maire has much experience of the devastation poverty and social inequality can cause individuals and whole communities. As a public sector worker, Maire is committed to the fight against New LabourÕs theft of workersÕ pensions.

The Scottish Green Party candidate is Gordon Masterton who is an IT Service Delivery Manager working in the Glasgow area and lives on the cityÕs southside with his fiancˇe and dog. He has been a member of the Scottish Green Party for five years. He is also a longstanding campaigner, especially on peace issues and Palestinian rights, and is a member of Shelter and Greenpeace.

The British National party candidate is Walter Hamilton.

The Operation Christian Vote candidate is the Rev Tom Greig.

Socialist Labour Party candidate is Ian Johnson.

Elinor McKenzie is standing for the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	15,179	54.71 %		15,937	54.05 %
	Scottish National Party	5,797	20.89 %		6,130	20.79 %
	Liberal Democrat	2,655	9.57 %		2,918	9.90 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,814	6.54 %		1,959	6.64 %
	Conservative & Unionist	1,707	6.15 %		1,911	6.48 %
	Others	592	2.13 %		631	2.15 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	9,382	33.82 %		9,807	33.26 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This new constituency contains wards from five different Glasgow seats. There are three wards from the old Glasgow Kelvin, two from the old Glasgow Shettleston, two from the old Glasgow Govan, one shared between the old Glasgow Govan and Glasgow Shettleston, and one shared between the old Glasgow Rutherglen and Glasgow Shettleston.