NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
A by-election to select a new councillor for West Dunbartonshire’s Clydebank Waterfront takes place on Thursday this week.
It will be the first test of how Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party does in Scotland following the politics bloodbath that was the local elections in England last week.
The by-election will see elected a new representative for the area following the resignation of former SNP councillor James McElhill.
The polls open at 7am on Thursday 15 May, with residents in the Clydebank Waterfront ward asked to vote for their preferred candidate.
Against all the odds and confident predictions from pundits, the Scottish Labour Party’s Maureen McGlinchey, right, could take on Reform UK’s David H Smith and beat him.
I am not saying it’s going to be a two-horse race, but if all politics is local and Anas Sarwar was right when he said Labour needs to recruit really good local candidates to stand for election then I would say they have found one to stand in Clydebank Waterfront.
Maureen has a long association with Clydebank as her entire teaching career of 35 years was spent in St Columba’s High School.
In 1992 she joined the Senior Management Team as a Depute Head Teacher and later took up the post of Head Teacher for four years before St Columba’s closed and merged with St Andrew’s in 2009 at which time she retired.
Since retirement Maureen has been involved in a number of volunteering roles in the local community: Chair of the Clydebank Asbestos Group; Vale Hospital Tea Bar assistant; Volunteer Modern studies teacher in The Choices Project; Case Instructor with a Church Tribunal; Panel Practice Advisor with the Children’s Panel; Area Convener of West Dunbarton Children’s Panel.
Maureen started as a Volunteer with CAG in March 2024. In October 2024 she took up the position of Chairperson to which she brings her years of management experience and a huge enthusiasm for the tremendous work of the Charity in assisting victims of asbestos to access the financial and practical support they deserve as well as campaigning for justice on their behalf.
The other candidates in this by-election are:
Eryn Browning – Scottish Greens
Kevin Crawford – Scottish National Party (SNP)
Kristopher Duncan – Alba Party for independence
Andrew Joseph Muir – Scottish Family Party
David Smith – Reform UK
Cameron Eoin Stewart – Scottish Liberal Democrats
Brian Walker – Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
Polling places remain open until the vote closes at 10pm. The count will take place immediately after the polls close, with a declaration as soon as possible thereafter.
Returning Officer Peter Hessett, who gets even more cash to add to his £150,000 a year salary for reading out the result – said: “We would like West Dunbartonshire residents who reside in the Clydebank Waterfront ward to use their vote to have their say on who they want to represent them and make decisions on their behalf.
“I encourage every elector in this ward to check they are registered to vote now and if not, ensure you apply before the deadlines. People least likely to be registered include first time voters or those who have recently moved house.
“If you are unsure whether you are on the electoral register, please contact the electoral registration office on 0141 562 1200 and, if necessary, complete the forms online which will take just a few minutes.
“In addition, any resident requiring a postal or proxy vote should apply now before the deadline.”
The by-election will use the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system, which asks voters to mark their candidates in numerical order of preference.
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The ex-SNP leader is touring Scotland to promote her autobiography, Frankly, which is set for release in August.
She will officially launch this book at the Edinburgh Festival, and is also set to take to the stage at Usher Hall in the Capital for “An Evening With” event.
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It seems that Morrisons on the High Street still haven’t discovered who stole their postbox. And they still don’t have one for anxious persons using the Royal Mail at the last minute. For urgent matters such as birthday cards and council tax bill payments and things like that.
I rushed around their Morrisons Daily store looking for a bright red postbox both in the place where it used to be, up the back of the store, when it really was a post office, and when it was placed at the front near the shop door before it was stolen, just a few hours after the official opening.
Entry to the shop was usually graced by an accordion playing busker. Yes, that long ago.
You really know you are in a sink town when the place doesn’t even have a postbox in the High Street.
Can’t help casting my mind back to that prestigious building that was once Dumbarton Post Office, pictured above right, with a Postmaster, the late Pat White in charge.
Now if we had a few councillors and caring politicians around to represent us here, we would have a postbox soon. Perhaps even before the next local election? NOt thizs by-elecion but the one upcoming for the Scottish Parliament.
Maybe then one of them will get off their backside and do something about this.
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Sounds like this guy is in the wrong job. Surely he should be looking for a managerial post at West Dunbartonshire Council?
The head of a cash-strapped university, where hundreds of staff face job losses, enjoyed a luxury £5970 junket to Barbados. Maybe the Prof’s a big cricket fan?
The revelations about the expenses came as lecturers and staff ballot for strike action over potential job losses after the university recorded a £14.4 million deficit in 2023/24.
Voting for Maureen will change absolutely nothing, despite the her outstanding CV as set out by Bill. This will just be another Labour councillor voting with Labour, who already have a majority anyway. It simply puts nearly £26k into the pockets of another Labour activist and should Labour win then they’ll just carry on doing what they’ve been doing for years. Making cut after cut and blaming everyone else instead of taking responsibility. Reform have committed to donating the salary to local charities and good causes and because we don’t have to defend Labour cuts, we can actually stand up for every resident in the ward, which is completely different to Labour and the SNP who only seem to be capable of standing up for themselves.