Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Labour introduced devolution to Scotland without any thought for the unfairness that this created in England. It will be incumbent upon us to sort this out.' Angela Browning, Shadow leader of the House of Commons, 14 th January 2001.

Glasgow East

Candidates

	Labour	David Marshall MP
	Scottish National Party	Lachlan McNeill
	Conservative & Unionist	Carl Thomson
	Liberal Democrat	David Jackson
	Scottish Socialist Party	George Savage

Candidates

The Labour candidate is the current MP for Glasgow Shettleston, David Marshall. He was born in Glasgow in 1941 and educated at Larbert, Denny & Falkirk High School, and Woodside Secondary in Glasgow. Before his election he worked in an office, as a farm worker and bus conducter. He was a member of Glasgow Corporation from 1972 until council reorganisation in 1974, and then a Strathclyde Regional Councillor from 1974 until his election in 1979 following the retiral of Sir Myer Galpern. Although Marshall has served for longer than any MP seeking re-election with the exception of Gavin Strang (1970), Robin Cook (February 1974) and Michael Martin (also 1979), he does not have a high profile - indeed, it is said that the Tories removed him as chair of the Transport Select committe in 1992 without informing him. He voted against the illegal war in Iraq.

The SNP candidate is Lachlan McNeill. Lachie is convener of SNP Glasgow Baillieston Constituency Branch. He stood in Glasgow Baillieston in the 2001 Westminster election, achieving a swing of over 2% from Labour, and again in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. He was born in Glasgow in 1952, was educated at Glasgow Academy and took his law degree at Glasgow University. After practising as a solicitor in Glasgow for 25 years he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in June 2000. Lachie and his wife Morag have two daughters and two grandsons. He is a committed Church of Scotland elder. After law and restoring Scotland's independence, Lachie's other great interest is history.

Conservative candidate Carl Thomson has a Master of Arts (Honours) in Modern History and Political Science from the University of Dundee and a Master of Philosophy in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow. He is currently a Parliamentary Researcher to the Rt. Hon Theresa May MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Family.

Lib Dem candidate David Jackson was born in 1971 and studied history and politics at Glasgow University. He is married with two children, has worked as an IT manager and an IT lecturer and lives in Glasgow. His interests include swimming, fitness and computers. He stood for Glasgow council in 2003 and was Lib Dem candidate for Glasgow Rutherglen at the 2001 Westminster election when he came third with 12.6 %. At the 2003 Scottish election, he was seventh on the Lib Dem list for Glasgow and he contested Glasgow Baillieston where he came fifth with 6.6%.

The SSP candidate is George Savage, a 47-year-old single parent from Garthamlock. A life long trade unionist (Amicus/MSF), he is currently unemployed. He was active in the anti Poll-Tax and anti-water privatisation campaigns. He opposes war in Iraq and the privatisation of public services by Blair and his big business cronies.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	20,829	63.72 %		21,332	63.24 %
	Scottish National Party	5,591	17.10 %		5,786	17.15 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	2,268	6.94 %		2,265	6.72 %
	Conservative & Unionist	1,994	6.10 %		2,129	6.31 %
	Liberal Democrat	1,892	5.79 %		2,092	6.20 %
	Others	115	0.35 %		113	0.34 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	15,238	46.62 %		15,546	46.11 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of the whole of the old Glasgow Baillieston constituency with the addition of four wards from Glasgow Shettleston.