Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'The real battle has yet to be joined, on both sides. Politicians think getting the tabloids on their side is crucial to winning such battles. Tony Blair was so determined to keep in with Rupert Murdoch that, when the Sun labelled him the most dangerous man in Britain recently, he retaliated by producing a promised article on policing south of the Border the very next day.' Alf Young in the Herald, 3rd July 1998.

Inverclyde

Candidates

	Labour	David Cairns MP
	Scottish National Party	Stewart McMillan
	Conservative & Unionist	Gordon Fraser
	Liberal Democrat	Douglas Herbison
	Scottish Socialist Party	Davy Landels

Candidates

The Labour candidate is David Cairns, who is currently MP for Greenock & Inverclyde. He was born in Greenock in 1966 and educated at Notre Dame School in Greenock, and the Gregorian University in Rome and the Fransiscan Study Centre in Canturbury, being ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1991. He also worked as a research assistant to Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh and was a Lbaour councillor in the English borough of Merton from 1998 until 2001. He was selected as a candidate for Inverclyde for the 2001 election. This necessited an act of parliament as there had been a ban on Roman Catholic priests becoming MPs. He supported the illegal war in Iraq.

The SNP candidate is Stuart McMillan. Stuart is the Organiser of the SNP Port Glasgow Branch and has been a member of the party for over 12 years. He initially joined the Greenock and Inverclyde Branch and was one of the founder members of the current Port Glasgow branch. Stuart was also a founder member of the Dundee Young Scottish Nationalists whilst studying in Dundee and was an active member of the Abertay Nationalists. Stuart was born in Barrow in Furness in 1972, graduated with an MBA (European) from the University of Abertay Dundee in 1997 which included studying in France and Sweden and was married in 2003. After graduating, Stuart began employment with IBM UK Ltd., then left to be a Parliamentary Researcher for the SNP group in Westminster before returning to Scotland to be the Office Manager for Bruce McFee MSP in 2003. Stuart is a keen piper and currently plays with the London Scottish Pipes and Drums. He has also busked around Europe twice with his pipes visiting friends on the way.

The Tory candidate is Gordon Fraser.

Veteran Lib Dem candidate Douglas Herbison was born in 1951 and studied economics at the University of London. He is married with one daughter and lives in Glasgow. Mr Herbison's political career can be used to trace the ebb and flow of Liberal and Lib Dem fortunes. He is the current Scottish party treasurer having been a Liberal councillor in Motherwell from 1973 until 1979. He has also stood for Westminster: at Cumbernauld & Kilsyth in 1983, coming second with 19.8 %; and for Cunninghame North in 1987 coming third with 12.1 %, and in 1992, when he fell to fouth place with 6.7 %. In 2001 he contested Banff & Buchan, coming fourth with 9.0 %. In 2003, he contested Glasgow Kelvin in the Scottish parliamentary election, coming third with 15.1 %, and was fourth on the Glasgow list. He also contested Strathclyde West in the 1984, 1989 and 1994 European elections, coming fourth with 15.1 %, fifth with 3.9 %, and fourth with 7.5 % respectively, while in 2004 he was fifth on the Lib Dem European list.

The SSP candidate is Davy Landels who lives in Larkfield, Greenock, and is a caseworker for the SSP. A Granda and a long term local activist, Davy has built campaigns for free school meals, against the Council Tax and the anti-war campaign. He was involved in the Rankine Maternity campaign and the fight to stop the downgrading of the IRH. Davy is also currently researching a book about the Lee Jeans factory occupation.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	19,555	50.22 %		19,761	50.61 %
	Liberal Democrat	8,241	21.17 %		8,131	20.82 %
	Scottish National Party	5,453	14.01 %		5,452	13.96 %
	Conservative & Unionist	4,211	10.82 %		4,253	10.89 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,475	3.79 %		1,451	3.72 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	11,314	29.06 %		11,630	29.78 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

The is composed of the old Greenock & Inverclyde seat with the addition of five wards from the old West Renfrewshire seat. The constituency now covers the whole of the Inverclyde council area.