Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Alastair Campbell ... complained last week that I had written a story, which he described as fiction, about the Prime Minister cancelling a visit to the Ayr by-election. In fact he wrote on the letterhead of Number 10 to the editor for publication saying no such visit had ever been planned. I should just like to point out - again - that the Labour Party itself issued a press release in the name of the Secretary of State for Scotland - subject, the Ayr by-election - stating that Dr Reid was, and I quote: 'Looking forward to the visit this week by the Prime Minister to Scotland, Scottish Labour conference and Labour's continued campaign in the Ayr by-election.' Even when you get it right, you are told you're wrong.' Murray Ritchie of the Herald, 14 th March 2000.

West Dunbartonshire

Candidates

	Labour	John McFall MP
	Scottish National Party	Thomas Chalmers
	Conservative & Unionist	Campbell Murdoch
	Liberal Democrat	Cllr Niall Walker
	Scottish Socialist Party	Les Robertson
	UK Independence Party	Bryan Maher
	Operation Christian Vote	Marlon Dawson

Candidates

The Labour candidate is John McFall who is currently MP for Dumbarton. He was born in Glasgow in 1944 and educated at St Patrick's Secondary in Dumbarton, Paisley College of Technology, Srathclyde University, and the Open University. He worked as a chemistry teacher from 1974 until his election in 1987 after the retiral of Ian Campbell. McFall held Dumbarton with 43.0 % of the vote and a majority of 5,222 over the Tories. At the Labour landslide of 1997, he polled 49.61 % and obtained a 10,883 majority over the SNP's Cllr Bill Mackechnie, which fell slightly to 47.51 % an a majority of 9,575 over the SNP's Cllr Iain Robertson in 2001. McFall was appointted as a Government whip after the 1997 election and in 1988 he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office before being sacked after the 2001 election. He has since been chair of the Treasury select committee.

The SNP candidate is Tom Chalmers. Tom (45) is a solicitor with Scottish Water. He works in Glasgow where he lives with his wife Ann. Originally from Kilsyth, Tom graduated from Glasgow University in 1980 with a joint honours law degree in Jurisprudence and Comparative Law. A member of the SNP since 1977, Tom has held various positions within the SNP and has been a candidate for the Party in several elections. Most recently he represented the SNP in the Anniesland by-election in 2000. Tom was formerly the National Treasurer of the SNP (1990-94) and the Party's Housing Spokesperson. He is currently an elected member of the SNP's Standing Orders and Agenda Committee (SOAC). His interests politically (apart from Independence for Scotland) include Housing, Water and infrastructure, Legal /Constitutional matters and Human Rights. Outwith politics, Tom is interested in football (Partick Thistle and Manchester United), reading, music, chess and backgammon.

The Tory candidate is Campbell Murdoch.

The Lib Dem candidate is Cllr Niall Walker who was born in 1959 and educated at St Andrews, Strathclyde and Glasgow universities. He works as an accountant and runs his own business. He is single and his interests include the environment, history, cyclying, swimming and tennis. He has represented the Hillhead ward of Glasgow City Council since 2003.

The SSP candidate is Les Robertson. A founder member of Faslane Peace Camp, Les is an active peace campaigner and trade unionist and has served two prison sentences for making non-violent protests against Trident. He is a leading figure in the campaign to bring the troops home from Iraq. Les joined local firefighters and nursery nurses on the picket lines. The architect of the SSPÕs campaign to retain jobs and services at the Vale of Leven Hospital, Les is also a prominent figure in fight against West Dunbartonshire CouncilÕs school closure programme.

The UK Independence Pary candidate is Bryan Maher who was born in 1938 in Liverpool where he was educated at Holy Name Primary and Evered Avenue Commercial Schools. He did a 12 yr. tour with the Royal Air Force in the Electronics Specialisation's, Weapons and Navigational Instruments. On completion of his RAF Service he worked for 3yr. training Royal Saudi Officers in Saudi Arabia then studied Electrics/Elecronics at the Doncaster Metropolitan Institute of Higher Education. On completion of his studies he moved to West Dunbartonshire upon his obtaining employment at the local navy base. He is currently in active employment as a security guard for a well known company and is resident in Alexandria where he has lived for the past 25 yr. During his time there he has stood for the local council twice as a Conservative and once as an Independent. After being inactive for a time and being disillusioned with the main political parties he joined the UKIP in 2004.

The Operation Christian Vote candidate is Marlon Dawson.

Notional 2001 result

Logo	Party	Denver			Baxter
		Votes	%		Votes	%
	Labour	29,210	63.49 %		25,734	57.59 %
	Scottish National Party	11,041	24.00 %		11,026	24.67 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	2,317	5.04 %		2,184	4.89 %
	Conservative & Unionist	2,308	5.02 %		3,545	7.93 %
	Liberal Democrat	1,134	2.46 %		2,199	4.92 %
Notional Labour win	Notional Labour majority	18,169	39.49 %		14,708	32.91 %

Local Government wards in the constituency

This consists of 11 wards from the old Dumbarton seat, 10 wards from the old Clydebank & Milgavie seat, and one ward split between these seats. The constituency covers the whole of the West Dunbartonshire council area.