Thoughts on candidates in my local parliamentary constituency
Well, I just listened to the local MP candidates' debate on the radio, so I guess now is a good time to put down my thoughts on how I plan to vote. I've been undecided, really, but I think now I'm leaning toward the Scottish National Party rather than the Liberal Democrats....
Anyway, why don't I just go party by party with my thoughts...
Labour, of course, are the ones in power nationally, and the current MP for this constituency (Dumfries & Galloway) is a Labour guy. By all accounts, our MP is a good guy. My wife likes him. I don't have anything against him, really, except that he's been there for about 10 years, as long as I've been in Dumfries, and has he done anything good ? Probably, yes, but in general I've seen the town decline over the past 10 years... so he hasn't really done enough good, in my opinion. The economy nationally as well as locally is terrible... the traffic in town is terrible... I know it's not his fault but let me just get some thoughts out anyway. The nation, under a Labour government, is in a bad state. Gordon Brown is not well-liked, and it looks like he's going to lose power at this election. I blame Labour for the banking crisis, the bad economy, the mess that was the war in Iraq, etc etc etc, and I think they must be punished. I would normally vote for Labour over the Conservatives, but there's just no way I can see myself vote for a Labour candidate right now with the state that the country is in, and has been in over the past 10 years. They need to get out.
The Conservatives... It looks like David Cameron will be our next Prime Minister. If that's the case, I think it would be a good thing for our region to have a Conservative MP. After listening to the local candidates' debate on the radio, I must say that the two candidates from the two big parties were probably head and shoulders above the others in terms of how they came across to me.... more intelligent sounding, a bit more on the ball... both the Tory and the incumbent Labour candidates have spent time in Westminster and know what they're doing, and you can tell that. Just more polished and professional in some way... not that that's necessarily always a good thing... I'm not a fan of professional politicians... but maybe it helps to be experienced at Westminster in order to get things done. All that said, I won't be voting for the Conservative candidate. I'm not a right-leaning person, more of a leftie. The fox-hunting farmer crowd is not really my scene. I think either one of the big two could win this MP seat. Most of the constituency is very rural (thus conservative), but I think the current Labour MP is fairly well-liked too so it's hard to predict... it might go either way.
The Green Party doesn't have a candidate standing in this constituency, otherwise I would seriously be considering them. Shame.
The Liberal Democrats are on the up lately with their leader Nick Clegg being very popular after the first leaders' debate. I was seriously thinking about voting Lib Dem... but to be brutally frank, I find the local candidate pretty disappointing. Not up to par with the two from the big parties at all. I know it's not all about presentation and it should be more about issues... so, actually, there are issues, as well, that dissuade me from voting Lib Dem... One issue being nuclear power, which I'm in favour of, and they do not want to pursue that in the future for various reasons. Mainly, tho, I guess, I just wish there was a more impressive Lib Dem candidate... a bit dissapointing because I think they would've done well here this time around... who knows, maybe they still will.
Despite the Labour pamphlets saying it's a two horse race, I really wouldn't be surprised if the Lib Dems and the SNP do well enough to make it a four horse race in this constituency, especially with the national mood being the way it is lately. There could be a surprise victory for one of the other parties. There's a fifth party running as well... the UK Independence Party, which runs mainly on a platform of saying they want the UK to leave the EU and the European Parliament. I don't see them getting too much support around here. We like our EU-funded bike paths too much.
So, the Scottish National Party is the only one left. Probably more of a case of deciding who not to vote for, which has led me to say that I may vote for the SNP. The local candidate, I knew of, as he is a councillor up in Nithsdale where I used to work north of Dumfries... and I've seen his face in the wee local paper I used to get up there. Not overly impressed with him, actually, but a bit better than the Lib Dem guy. In the radio debate, he did say a few right things about renewable energy, which is a big issue with me lately... As far as independence for Scotland, I'm probably leaning more for that than against it (altho Linda is against it).... and, being an SNP guy, I think he'd definitely be thinking of Scotland first, and the local area first... which I think is a good thing... sort of a local champion, as they say.... And he is born and bred from this area, Dumfries... unlike some of the others who are from Ayr or Annan, outside of the constituency.... so, yeah, I think I'll be voting SNP in my first UK parliamentary election.
Anyway, why don't I just go party by party with my thoughts...
Labour, of course, are the ones in power nationally, and the current MP for this constituency (Dumfries & Galloway) is a Labour guy. By all accounts, our MP is a good guy. My wife likes him. I don't have anything against him, really, except that he's been there for about 10 years, as long as I've been in Dumfries, and has he done anything good ? Probably, yes, but in general I've seen the town decline over the past 10 years... so he hasn't really done enough good, in my opinion. The economy nationally as well as locally is terrible... the traffic in town is terrible... I know it's not his fault but let me just get some thoughts out anyway. The nation, under a Labour government, is in a bad state. Gordon Brown is not well-liked, and it looks like he's going to lose power at this election. I blame Labour for the banking crisis, the bad economy, the mess that was the war in Iraq, etc etc etc, and I think they must be punished. I would normally vote for Labour over the Conservatives, but there's just no way I can see myself vote for a Labour candidate right now with the state that the country is in, and has been in over the past 10 years. They need to get out.
The Conservatives... It looks like David Cameron will be our next Prime Minister. If that's the case, I think it would be a good thing for our region to have a Conservative MP. After listening to the local candidates' debate on the radio, I must say that the two candidates from the two big parties were probably head and shoulders above the others in terms of how they came across to me.... more intelligent sounding, a bit more on the ball... both the Tory and the incumbent Labour candidates have spent time in Westminster and know what they're doing, and you can tell that. Just more polished and professional in some way... not that that's necessarily always a good thing... I'm not a fan of professional politicians... but maybe it helps to be experienced at Westminster in order to get things done. All that said, I won't be voting for the Conservative candidate. I'm not a right-leaning person, more of a leftie. The fox-hunting farmer crowd is not really my scene. I think either one of the big two could win this MP seat. Most of the constituency is very rural (thus conservative), but I think the current Labour MP is fairly well-liked too so it's hard to predict... it might go either way.
The Green Party doesn't have a candidate standing in this constituency, otherwise I would seriously be considering them. Shame.
The Liberal Democrats are on the up lately with their leader Nick Clegg being very popular after the first leaders' debate. I was seriously thinking about voting Lib Dem... but to be brutally frank, I find the local candidate pretty disappointing. Not up to par with the two from the big parties at all. I know it's not all about presentation and it should be more about issues... so, actually, there are issues, as well, that dissuade me from voting Lib Dem... One issue being nuclear power, which I'm in favour of, and they do not want to pursue that in the future for various reasons. Mainly, tho, I guess, I just wish there was a more impressive Lib Dem candidate... a bit dissapointing because I think they would've done well here this time around... who knows, maybe they still will.
Despite the Labour pamphlets saying it's a two horse race, I really wouldn't be surprised if the Lib Dems and the SNP do well enough to make it a four horse race in this constituency, especially with the national mood being the way it is lately. There could be a surprise victory for one of the other parties. There's a fifth party running as well... the UK Independence Party, which runs mainly on a platform of saying they want the UK to leave the EU and the European Parliament. I don't see them getting too much support around here. We like our EU-funded bike paths too much.
So, the Scottish National Party is the only one left. Probably more of a case of deciding who not to vote for, which has led me to say that I may vote for the SNP. The local candidate, I knew of, as he is a councillor up in Nithsdale where I used to work north of Dumfries... and I've seen his face in the wee local paper I used to get up there. Not overly impressed with him, actually, but a bit better than the Lib Dem guy. In the radio debate, he did say a few right things about renewable energy, which is a big issue with me lately... As far as independence for Scotland, I'm probably leaning more for that than against it (altho Linda is against it).... and, being an SNP guy, I think he'd definitely be thinking of Scotland first, and the local area first... which I think is a good thing... sort of a local champion, as they say.... And he is born and bred from this area, Dumfries... unlike some of the others who are from Ayr or Annan, outside of the constituency.... so, yeah, I think I'll be voting SNP in my first UK parliamentary election.