Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'.' Full text of Gordon Brown's speeches supporting Tony Blair.

Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath

Candidates

	Labour	Rt Hon Dr James Gordon Brown
	Scottish National Party	Alan Bath
	Conservative & Unionist	Cllr Stuart Randall
	Liberal Democrat	Alex Cole-Hamilton
	Scottish Socialist Party	Steve West
	Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party	James Parker
	UK Independence Party	Peter Adams
	Independent	Elizabeth Kwantes
	Independent	Pat Sargent

Candidates

The Labour candidate is the Chancellor of the Exchequer and wannabe Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Dr James Gordon Brown. Brown is curently MP for Dunfermline East, which disappears in the boundary changes, and his friend Dr Lewis Moonie has stepped down in Kirkcaldy to allow Brown a free run. Brown was born in Govan in 1951 and educated at Kirkcaldy High School and Edinburgh University, obtaining a PhD for his research into the Labour movement. He was Recor of Edinburgh University from 1972 until 1975 and then a lecturer there until 1980. He was elected MP for the new constituency of Dunfermline East in 1983 with 51.5 % of the vote, which he increased to 64.7 % in 1987. At the Labour landslide in 1997, he won 66.81 % of the vote on the new constituency boundaries, seeing his vote fall slightly to 64.77 % in 2001. Brown was abour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 1987 and after a peroid as Trade & Industry spokesman, was promoted to Shadow Chancelor in 1992 when his friend John Smith became party leader. Upon Labour's return to power in 1997, Brown became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and apart from Tony Blair, is the only member of the government to continuously hold the same post since their victory. Brown has been fortunate in being able to use Scottish oil revenues to prop up the ailing British economy, a policy which has worked, ironically, at the expense of the Scottish economy which has been sadly neglected.

The SNP candidate is Alan Bath, a management consultant running his own company since July 2003. Educated at Queen Ann High School in Dunfermline and Edinburgh University, where he gained an MA (Hons) in History, Alan now lives in Crook of Devon. A past Convener of the SNP's Kinross Branch, Alan is currently political Education officer in Ochil Constituency and works hard to promote the cause of Independence and the betterment of Scotland.

The Conservative candidate is Cllr Stuart Randall who lives in Dalgety Bay. He studied Physics at the University of Birmingham and is a part-time Press Researcher for the Scottish Parliament. Stuart has a keen interest in many sports, including tennis, skiing and cycling. In 1999, he won the Dalgety Bay East ward of Fife council from Labour with a majority of 25, taking 33.24 % of the vote. In 2004, he held the ward with a majority of 89 over Labour and 32.26 % of the vote.

Lib Dem candidate Alex Cole-Hamilton was born in 1977 and was educated at St Andrews and Aberdeen Universities. He contested Kirkcaldy as the Scottish parliament elections in 2003, coming third with 11.0 %. He lives with his partner in Edinburgh and his interests include scuba diving, rock climbing and Arabic.

The SSP candidate is Steve West. As a civil servant, Steve will not be paid for the time he takes off to campaign and will have to reapply for his job - unlike millionaire civil service pension butcher Gordon Brown. Steve has been an active socialist and trade unionist since he was 17, later becoming a Regional Organiser of the civil servants union, PCS, in East London and Anglia. On moving to Scotland three years ago he joined the SSP, and is currently the PCS Shop Steward in the Kirkcaldy JobCentre.

The Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party candidate is James Parker. At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election he was first on the SSCUP's West of Scotland list.

The UK Independence Party candidate is Peter Adams who was born in Perth in 1948. He is a Retired Royal Engineers Captain who was commissioned from the ranks. Living in Kirkcaldy with his wife Anita, he has a daughter and son from his previous marriage. He is employed part time by RNIB Multiple Disability Visual Impairment Services and an Independent Distributor for Neways International. His special areas of interests are Nutritional & Environmental Health, while his sporting interests include Orienteering.

Elizabeth Kwantes is standing as an Independent.

Pat Sargent is standing as an Independent.

The Save the Scottish Regiments candidate was Anne McMillan, but she stood down in mid April because her husband is ill. Anne's father served in The Black Watch regiment and she has local ties with many Black Watch families. She also has extensive experience within the National Health Service having served as a general nurse and midwife for over fifteen years at grassroots level, she also has managerial experience in facilitating and managing change within the National Health Service. Anne is also committed to the Campaign to Save the Scottish Regiments and has been the party fundraiser for the past six months.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	23,805	58.51 %		23,838	57.69 %
	Scottish National Party	7,567	18.60 %		7,754	18.76 %
	Conservative & Unionist	4,314	10.60 %		4,595	11.11 %
	Liberal Democrat	3,724	9.15 %		3,796	9.19 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	1,110	2.73 %		1,175	2.84 %
	Others	167	0.41 %		165	0.40 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	16,238	39.91 %		16,084	38.92 %

Local Government wards in the constituency