Why an SNP candidate in Mid Formartine?
I was approached by multiple party members to stand, despite initial reluctance on my part…!
Politics, including local politics, is a huge commitment, and I needed a lot of ‘egging on’ to agree to put my name forward.
Our other SNP candidate, Jenny Nicol, stood for us in the last local election and she lives in Potterton, in the east of the ward, where she’s very active in her local community.
I know Mid-Formartine well, as I covered it for four years while I was a journalist in nearby Ellon. It’s a lovely ward - beautiful wee towns and villages, the perfect mix of rural and urban. It’s also got one of the finest beaches in Scotland at Balmedie, and a wealth of historical points of interest. My own favourite is the Loanhead Stone Circle at Daviot, which has fascinated me since I was a young lad.
There’s a lot of hidden gems for visitors, and one of my other objectives if elected is to try and raise the area’s profile. Businesses were hammered by the pandemic, and I’m willing to do anything in my power to get the local economy back on its feet.
Why the SNP? I’ve been a supporter since I first developed a political consciousness, probably when I was about 13. Over that time I’ve watched Scotland’s national confidence grow and develop.
Just one example of that - folk aren’t ashamed anymore to speak Scots or Gaelic - especially youngsters, and that’s an enormously positive development that’s only really happened in the last 10 years or so.
I’ve seen the party grow in tandem with that national consciousness - from where it was then, to where it is now - and it’s still, hands down, got the best vision for what Scotland could be, as an independent nation.
What are the main issues you want to prioritise in this campaign?
The first - and theoretically, most straightforward, thing I want to get sorted is our roads. Road Maintenance was severely disrupted by the pandemic, and as a result there’s a backlog of repairs needing done. It’s the first thing any resident complains about in a rural ward.
The SNP group has identified around £2.5m worth of funding that the current administration is holding as an ‘emergency reserve’ - I’d like that deployed now, to address the existing damage, and stop the problems getting any worse.
Secondly, our manifesto commitment to increase the number of local authority homes in the constituency is one of the key things we can do for those who are struggling to afford decent accommodation, or get onto the property ladder. We have lengthy waiting lists in Aberdeenshire for affordable housing, and while the Scottish Government has already funded tens of thousands of new affordable homes across the country, it’ll take a long time to work through that backlog.
I want Aberdeenshire Council to keep up the pace of construction, as far as it possibly can. We have a target of around 2000 new affordable homes between now and the next election, and I will work as hard as I can to ensure this target is met and, ideally, exceeded.
Thirdly? I want to do everything in my power to ensure that families aren’t penalised by high childcare costs.
I’ve a five-year old myself, and my wife and I were lucky to have friends and family to support us maintaining a decent work/family balance before our laddie went to school. I’m extremely conscious, however, that not everybody is that fortunate - and for families who need it, childcare can be astonishingly expensive.
The Scottish Government has already done great work funding the expansion of early years provision - I want to go further with that, and see us deliver the commitment in our local manifesto to free early years childcare for all 1 and 2 year olds.
In a climate of rising fuel costs, food prices and inflated housing costs, we need high-quality, flexible early-years childcare to ensure our next generation gets the best possible start in life.
There’s loads more in the manifesto I’m really pleased with. Could speak all day about it…!
Why is the SNP the best alternative to the other parties in your area?
Why should voters in Mid-Formartine cast their ballot for the SNP over the other parties?
I suspect the Tories will take a hit, given that Boris Johnson has done nothing but cover his party in unprecedented dishonour over the past few years.
Locally, and at Holyrood level, Scottish Conservatives have tried to distance themselves from him with varying degrees of success. They know - including local Conservatives I’m friendly with - that his antics, and the tone-deaf policies his administration pursue at Westminster, will be an albatross around their necks on the doorsteps.
This is his cost of living crisis, and by extension it’s theirs. They’re also still trying to figure out a way to sell Brexit locally, which is astonishingly unpopular, especially with the businesses that have been hurt by it.
Locally, the Tories have been in power in Aberdeenshire since 2017, propped up by the Lib Dems and some of the Independents. It’s a tired administration, riven by personal animosities and I genuinely struggle to think of anything positive it can be given credit for.
I’ve seen the Tories’ election literature - it’s just grudge and grievance against Holyrood. They’ve no new policies and all they’re capable of, it seems, is rattling a ‘British nationalist’, ‘anti-indyref’ can, despite the fact it’s a local election.
Union jack-bedecked leaflets won’t fill the potholes they’ve failed to fix in the north-east. Jenny and I, and our SNP colleagues, have concrete, aspirational proposals, and we’re keen to put them to the electorate.
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