Election diary 2011
4th May
The long campaign is nearly over and I’m stopping now to watch the Manchester United semi-final on the telly. I know I wouldn’t be too keen on a canvassers knocking on my door during the match so I won’t do that to anyone else.
The last couple of days since my previous update have been full of campaigning and council work. Tuesday saw the teams out in Aberlour and Forres while in the evening the candidates took part in our final hustings at the Findhorn Foundation. It was my first time inside the universal hall and I thoroughly enjoyed the debate and the relaxed style of the evening.
Wednesday combined two council committees with some final campaigning and preparing the office for our get out the vote effort. After such a long campaign we don’t want to finish without a final push on polling day, although like I say, tonight it going to be spent in front of the TV watching football for the first time in several weeks.
The match should refresh my memory of the Laws of the Game before I get back to refereeing on Saturday after an absence for several weeks because of the campaign. My ground at the weekend is not Old Trafford like tonight’s match but Claggen Park in Fort William will do me just fine!
2nd May
Long may this amazing weather continue and what a joy it makes to be campaigning with the sun on your back. It also seems to be bringing out the best in our local gardens with house after house displaying some impressive plants and shrubs.
The weekend saw our campaign teams out in Keith, Lhanbryde and Forres and the response continues to be positive. It was also a pleasure to get to events around Moray on Sunday with large crowds at both the Forres theme day and an event marking the 72nd anniversary of RAF Lossiemouth which was held in the Cooper Park.
Today we were out again in Keith, Portgordon, Lhanbryde and Urquhart in what will be my final visits to these areas before polling day. I will of course have a tour round the stations on Thursday ensuring I get to Urquhart after 7pm when the bar at the Royal Oak opens and I can have a small drink to steady the nerves. The Royal Oak was the first pub in the UK to act as a polling station, and while many others have followed Urquhart can proudly boost the first.
Finally a note on the author of a blog on the STV local site. Lewis Mitchell has written two excellent articles on his views of the election in Moray through the eyes of a first time voter. I’d like to say that I’m not just praising this blog because of the favourable comments about me (although it always helps us vain politicians!) it is genuinely reassuring to see young people engaging in the political system and clearly considering all their options before making their decision on Thursday. To read Lewis’s blog use the following link http://local.stv.tv/lossiemouth/news/16505-election-2011-first-time-voter-feels-moray-could-be-in-for-a-change/
29th April
They say that a week is a long time in politics but unfortunately it has not been long enough for me to find time to keep this ‘blog’ updated. Last year I posted a little every day but this year seems to have been more difficult to find the time. But as we are now in the last week of the campaign I thought I’d better get back to the keyboard.
It has certainly been a busy time since my last update commenting on Annabel’s successful visit. We had a speech from the Prime Minister in Inverness and a meeting with him and campaigners about the campaign to save RAF Lossiemouth.
There have been a number of hustings organised by pupils at Speyside High, EIS in Moray and last night I travelled to Dingwall to take part in a NFU hustings at the mart where it was good to meet up with a couple of famers from Moray.
Along with all the meetings there continues to be the door knocking and the leafleting, apart from a couple of hours this morning, when like many people across the country I stopped what I was doing to watch the Royal wedding. I thought it was a great occasion and projects a great impression of our country to the estimated 2 billion people who were watching across the world.
So as we enter the last few days of the campaign I’ll try to give a more regular update on events as we head towards polling day on the 5th May.
20th April
With Annabel at Elgin Youth Cafe.
Annabel’s visit yesterday was a great success and to date she is the only party leader to visit Moray. Everywhere we went we got a positive response from the gents in Keith who wished us well to the lady and her two children who wanted their picture taken with Annabel. (My apologies now if they didn’t come out well – I’m no David Bailey!)
We started our visits in Keith where Annabel met Lisa of ‘Lisa’s @ 149’ who has expanded her business and benefited greatly from Conservative pressure to see an early reduction, and end in many cased, of business rates. We also had a quick chat in Boogie Woogie, another first class local business attracting people to the town.
It was then on to Elgin to visit the youth café which has recently been refurbished and celebrated its 10th anniversary. After a game of pool, a cappuccino and scone we had a tour of the café and spoke with some of the youngsters who take a significant role in running the café, all done under the very capable stewardship of Fiona Birse who has contributed so much to the youth café over the last decade.
The final meeting was with members of the ‘Fair Deal for Forres’ campaign who appreciated the time Annabel took to listen to their concerns and her promise to raise their issues directly with the Prime Minister.
All in all a great day, with Annabel proving yet again that she is having a great campaign. Her honest and frank approach to this election certainly went down well in Moray.
17th April
With two of our younger canvassers after finishing another street in Portgordon.
Just under three weeks to go in the campaign and this Saturday we were in the East of the constituency in my council ward. Portgordon looked nice but there was a chilly wind all day however the reception was anything but cold. People seem to appreciate what I do as a local councillor and time and time again I heard positive comments about Annabel Goldie’s performance in this campaign.
Sunday is a day for catching up with paper work and e-mails then it’s down to Glasgow as we have tickets to watch Peter Kay. A nice break from the campaign and an evening watching one of my favourite comedians.
Then on Monday it will be back to full steam with the campaigning including a busy schedule on Tuesday when Annabel will be visiting Moray to help with the campaign and meet some local businesses and groups.
15th April
Today started with an excellent visit to SAMH facilities in Elgin where I was happy to support their campaign shown above.
Tracy Grant and her staff do a tremendous job in what must be, at times, very difficult circumstances. Tracy has worked for SAMH in Moray for over 20 years and was a wealth of knowledge.
I was able to visit their new recovery centre at Jamieson Place in Elgin and was very impressed with the facility. Here service users have their own accommodation with a member of staff on site 24 hours a day, but they are also supported to live independently and move on to their own accommodation.
Yesterdays visits were just as successful with a tour of the Glen Isla care home in Keith where I had a great blether with some of the residents. Audra, the activities organiser, does an excellent job making sure the residents are fully involved with everything that is going on, including holding their own party for the Royal Wedding.
The final part of this update goes to the young boys and girls of Lhanbryde who patiently listened to me talk about refereeing as part of their football coaching course which has been running over the Easter holidays. Questions ranged from 'What is the greenest part of the pitch?' to 'Have you ever fought with a player?' But it seems I really grabbed their attention when I told them there is a video clip of me on the internet colliding with a dog while running at full speed and ending up on the ground with cracked ribs where I landed on my whistle. As the Northern Scot said today you need to have a tough skin to be a politician and a referee, alas it seems mine isn't as tough as it could be!
13th April
Taking a break after delivering our survey in Rafford
Wednesday began with a committee meeting at the council on Health and Social Care. It was a fairly light agenda but a significant discussion was held around the new carers’ strategy for Moray, with universal approval from the councillors and recognition of the excellent work which had been done in bringing together such a clear document.
One of the issues which still concerns me is the number of carers we don’t know about, particularly young carers. There is a lot of support from different agencies in Moray but the numbers we are working with are clearly below the true level of carers operating in Moray.
Following the committee meeting the three ward councillors for Fochabers-Lhanbryde met with representatives of Clochan Hall. A few months ago the future looked very bleak for the hall but the community have really rallied round to support the committee and after yesterdays meeting I’m more confident of a positive outcome. There has been a tremendous amount of work done by local people and I am sure that will be recognised when it’s debated by the committee next month.
After these meetings it was back to the campaign trail and I was through in Forres and Rafford, where we welcomed a new member to the team. Matthew is a 16 year old pupil at Forres Academy and very keen to help out.
Tune in tomorrow to hear how I got on today speaking to a group of kids on a holiday football camp about refereeing and meeting older people in a care home in Keith……..