Top of page picture: Dumbarton from the air by Pedro Pix.
Let the battle begin. In the red corner we have Dame Jackie Baillie, the sitting Labour MSP for the Dumbarton constituency, and in the blue corner David Smith, a Royal Navy veteran who lives in Dumbarton and is the prospective candidate for Reform UK in the Scottish Parliament election a year from now, next May. The Dumbarton Democrat is a privately owned, independent news media platform which has been banned from covering West Dunbartonshire Council because we asked for better access to their meetings. Labour and the SNP have allowed a council official to make this decision without reference to the elected members, the people voted in by the public to represent them. We are a free to access platform owned by local people for local people. We won’t be taking sides in the parliament elections, so it’s up to the parties to see this ban is lifted so that we can report and comment on politics in a fair and democratic way. Today we received the first press release from the Reform UK prospective candidate. Editor
By David Smith, Reform UK prospective candidate for Dumbarton.
It’s the first time ever that a party that isn’t Labour or the Tories has won a local election.
These results are unprecedented!
What we have achieved with a small, dedicated group of people over the last 12 months is nothing short of a miracle.
At the end of April, the far-left radical romantic parties of the SNP, Labour, Green, Liberal Democrats and Alba, along with senior civil servants, held a large summit in a very grand and expensive building, all at taxpayers’ expense, to discuss the rise of what they call, the ‘far right’.
What they were really talking about was Reform UK. They are worried about retaining their positions within government which they have taken for granted their whole careers.
Indeed, the rise of Reform UK is all anyone is talking about.
Our local membership is climbing rapidly, and our local meetings are positive and uplifting.
The foundations of our civil society are crumbling under the successive failures of the UK and Scottish Governments. Labours campaign against pensioners, which saw the removal of their winter fuel allowance, has been fully supported by Anas Sarwar and Jackie Baillie.
They fully support the destruction of our farms, which is being executed through family farm taxes.
They fully support the destruction of our industries through the relentless pursuit of Net Zero, which have given the UK one of the highest energy costs in the world.
Labour’s response to the elections in England has been to say that they need to go ‘further’ and ‘faster’ in bringing about change. Which is frightening for many.
Robin House in Balloch, which is a hospice caring for Children and providing support for their families, is an amazing charity that we should all be supporting and is testament to how we should care for one and other in times of our greatest need.
Labour sees them as simply a business. They have increased Employers National Insurance on them and refused all calls to make charities exempt from the increases.
Our latest, West Dunbartonshire Council Budget has been nothing short of an attack on our most vulnerable. Pensioners, disabled groups, school children, will all feel the ill effects of the decisions taken by our councillors.
Something needs to change, and change begins by changing the government.
Many people have completely lost faith in politics and politicians due to the incompetence and bare faced lies that we have been exposed to over many years.
Reform UK are seeking your vote at the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in May 2026 to resolve this and address all the crises within our society.
Labour have nothing to offer except more misery.
The SNP have nothing to offer except more chaos.
What’s worse is that Kezia Dugdale [former leader of Scottish Labour, now resigned] has already been writing about a Labour and SNP coalition, which will be devastating for everyone in Scotland.
Our message is very simple.
Vote Reform, Get Reform.