 | 'Scotland's first minister has sidestepped further questions on the so-called Officegate affair... However, the embattled leader received a message of support from Prime Minister Tony Blair who said he had 'full confidence' in Mr McLeish.' BBC Scotland News 5 th November 2001. |  |
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Dr Bill Wilson |  | Patricia Ferguson MSP |
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Robert Erskine |  |
Arthur Sanderson |
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Donnie Nicolson |
Boundary changes in Maryhill in 1997 were the least drastic in Glasgow with some 6,000 voters being added from Keppochhill in Springburn and 2,000 lost to Kelvin.
Labour has held Maryhill since 1935. From 1974 until 1987 it was held by James Craigen, a Labour -Co-op MP. In October 1974, he had a majority of 9,418 over the Scottish National Party, which he increased to 17,496 over the Tories in 1979.
The 1983 boundary changes meant that 71 % of votes came from the old Maryhill seats with 29 % coming from Kelvingrove which was abolished. Not very much changed in Maryhill, except that the runners up changed for the fourth election in a row. This time around James Craigen obtained a 11,203 majority over the Liberal Elspeth Attwooll, who since 1999 has been the Scottish Lib Dems first ever Member of the European Parliament.
Jim Craigen retired in 1987 at the age of 48 and was replaced by a Glasgow District Councillor of the same age, Maria Fyfe, who was a member of Labour's Scottish Executive. In the 1987 election, Maria Fyfe took 64.6 % of the vote and increased the Labour majority to 19,364. Liberal Elspeth Attwooll came second once more but her percentage of the vote had fallen from 22.1 % in 1983 to 11.7 % in 1987. The SNP moved back into third place with 11.0 % and the Tories came fourth with 9.4 %. Also standing was David Spaven for the Greens who took 1.5 %.
In 1992 there was a 6.5% swing from Labour to the SNP's Cliff Williamson who regained second place with 19.1 % of the vote. However, Maria Fyfe's 61.6 % of the vote and 13,412 majority still made Maryhill one of Scotland's safest seats. In third place with 10.3 % was Tory John Godfrey who would lose Perth & Kinross to the SNP's Roseanna Cunningham in the 1995 by-election when he came third behind Douglas Alexander, now MP for Paisley South. In fourth place was Lib Dem Jim Alexander with 7.0 % with Phil O'Brien taking 1.6 % for the Greens.
The boundary changes for the 1997 election increased Maria Fyfe's majority from 13,412 to a notional 14,512. In 1997, Maria Fyfe was elected as MP for Glasgow Maryhill for the third time with 64.9 % of the vote and a 14,264 majority over the SNP's Cllr John Wailes who took 17.0 %. Elspeth Attwooll stood for the third time for the Lib Dems taking 7.1 % while Tory Stuart Baldwin took 5.9 %.
Maria Fyfe announced that she would not be standing for the next general election and this caused some of the biggest excitement in the constituency since Labour won the seat in 1945. Originally it was assumed that a candidate would be chosen from within the constituency and the front runners were thought to be Cllr Hanzala Malik who represents the Woodlands ward in the constituency, Cllr Christopher Kelly, another local councillor and assistant to the local MSP, Patricia Ferguson, and Murdo Mathison, a Scottish party officer and Maryhill CLP secretary. However when the short list was announced it consisted of three women, none of whom were connected to the constituency . John MacCalman in the Herald reported that there was anger among the local ethnic community that Hanzala Malik, local Woodlands councillor, failed to make the short leet and there was speculation that Asian party members in the constituency might boycott the final selection meeting. The three women selected were Ann McKechin, a solicitor from Kelvin constituency, Katrina Murray, a volunteer health service co-ordinator and trade union activist, and Katie Clark, from Edinburgh. One disgruntled non-Asian member said: 'There is huge disappointment among the local candidates. They spent a great deal of time preparing for this interview only to be given a perfunctory interview with little or no policy questions being asked. Afterwards it became clear that this was a de facto women's list if not a de jure women's list which they cannot have in law.'
Against this background of local party discontent, Ann McKechin, 39, was selected and succeeded Maria Fyfe as MP for Maryhill. She polled 77 votes, with Katie Clark taking 34 votes and Katrina Murray one single vote. Ms McKechin is a member of the Kelvin CLP and is a solicitor who recently initiated a resolution on the control of the arms trade at a Labour Party Conference.
Maria Fyfe did not stand for the Scottish parliament and Labour selected Patricia Ferguson, a previous full time NHS administrator and STUC employee and a member of the Labour party staff. The SNP candidate was Dr Bill Wilson who works at the Zoology department at Glasgow University. He contested Glasgow Anniesland in 1997, coming second behind Donald Dewar. There was a 14.6 % swing from Labour to the SNP in Maryhill and Patricia Ferguson with 49.8 % was elected with a 4,326 majority over Bill Wilson who took 30.1 % of the vote. Patricia Ferguson was elected one of the Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament and is married to Bill Butler the new MSP for Glasgow Anniesland.
The fight for third place was close run in Maryhill. Lib Dem Claire Hamblem came third with 7.8 %, just ahead of Gordon Scott of the SSP with 6.3 %. Tory Michael Fry a regular columnist in the Scotsman and Herald also contested Maryhill. He took 14,693 votes in East Lothian in 1983 coming second behind John Home Robertson. In Maryhill in 1999 he did not do quite as well, taking 1,194 votes (5.2 %) and coming fifth.
Patricia Ferguson was born in Glasgow in 1958 and was educated at Garnethill Convent School. She obtained a SHNC in public administration from Glasgow College of technology and worked as an administrator for various health boards and the STUC. Although she was on the Labour party staff from 1994 until her lection in 1999 she was unknown outwith the party and many were astonished to see Ferguson proposed, and elected as a Deputy Presiding Officer. However, Ferguson, like the SNP's George Reid was seen to be efficient and impartial.
In 2001 when Jack McConnell became First Minister, he appointed Patricia Ferguson as Minister for Parliamentary Business in place of Tom McCabe who was sacked along with the majority of McLeish's cabinet, none of whom had supported McConnell a year before. MSPs took the opportunity for electing a new Deputy Presiding Officer to give Jack McConnell a bloody nose. In the secret vote, only 45 MSPs supported McConnell's candidate, the Labour MSP Cathie Peattie, while Tory Murray Tosh obtained 68 votes and was elected. As the combined opposition numbers only 57 MSPs, at least eleven Labour and/or Lib Dem MSPs had taken advantage of the secret poll to vote against McConnell's candidate.
The SNP candidate is again Dr Bill Wilson. He was born in Glasgow where he still lives and works at the Zoology department at Glasgow University. Educated at Shawlands Academy, and the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Queens University, Dr Wilson joined the SNP in 1989. He contested Anniesland in the 1997 general election, coming second to Donald Dewar with 17.1 % of the vote. In 1999 Bill Wilson almost doubled the SNP percentage vote taking 31.0 % in Maryhill.
The Tories have selected Robert Erskine while the Lib Dem candidate is Arthur Sanderson. The SSP cnadidate is Donnie Nicolson.
In 1983 the Scotsman commented 'Glasgow Maryhill is one of those seats in which it is almost possible to imagine a sack of potatoes with a Labour label on it being duly returned to the Mother of Parliaments.' Things have changed somewhat since then - few would escribe Mrs Ferguson as a sack of potatoes, and the 14.6 % swing from Labour to the SNP at the last election left her with a majority of 4,326 compared to the 19,364 that Maria Fyfe obtained in 1987.
Assessment:
Rank on Scottish National Party hit list: 45
Swing required for Scottish National Party gain: 9.40 % from Labour to Scottish National Party
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Labour | Patricia Ferguson | 11,455 | 49.78 % | - 15.16 % |
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Scottish National Party | Dr Bill Wilson | 7,129 | 30.98 % | + 14.03 % |
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Liberal Democrat | Clare Hamblen | 1,793 | 7.79 % | + 0.66 % |
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Scottish Socialist Party | Gordon Scott | 1,439 | 6.25 % | + 4.87 % |
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Conservative | Michael Fry | 1,194 | 5.19 % | - 0.69 % |
| Lab win | Lab majority | 4,326 | 18.80 % | - 29.19 % |
| Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
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Labour | 9,684 | 41.80 % |
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Scottish National Party | 6,914 | 29.84 % |
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Liberal Democrats | 1,554 | 6.71 % |
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Scottish Socialist Party | 1,523 | 6.57 % |
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Scottish Green Party | 1,226 | 5.29 % |
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Conservative & Unionist Party | 1,216 | 5.25 % |
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Socialist Labour Party | 449 | 1.94 % |
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Scottish Unionist Party | 186 | 0.80 % |
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Pro Life Alliance | 176 | 0.76 % |
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Communist Party of Britain | 58 | 0.25 % |
| Humanist Party | 55 | 0.24 % | |
| Socialist Party of Great Britain | 52 | 0.22 % | |
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Natural Law Party | 50 | 0.22 % |
| Bridget McGeechan, The People Choice | 26 | 0.11 % | |
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Lab maj | 2,770 | 11.96 % |
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Labour | Maria Fyfe | 19,301 | 64.94% |
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Scottish National Party | Cllr John Wailes | 5,037 | 16.95% |
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Liberal Democrat | Elspeth Attwool | 2,119 | 7.13% |
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Conservative | Stuart Baldwin | 1,747 | 5.88% |
| Natural Law | Lorna Blair | 651 | 2.19% |
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Scottish Socialist Alliance | Mandy Baker | 409 | 1.38% |
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Pro Life Alliance | Jahangir Hanif | 344 | 1.16% |
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Referendum | Roderick Paterson | 77 | 0.26% |
| SEP | Steve Johnstone | 36 | 0.12% | |
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Lab hold | Lab majority | 14,264 | 47.99% |
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