Aberdeen Donside

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Regret to have to report the death of Brian Adam, SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside constituency, after a long illness: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-22291973

Donside is a renamed Aberdeen North, for which Brian Adam was first elected in 2003. Adam was one of the members of the first Scottish Parliament as he was a North East region MSP in the first term.

[Deleted]

The last Holyrood by-election was in Moray in 2006. Richard Lochhead, who had been a regional MSP for the North-East, succeeded the late Maggie Ewing.

[Deleted]

There's only been a handful since the Scottish Parliament was established:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_by-elections_to_the_Scottish_Parliament

The very first one was Ayr in 2000, which was the first Con gain in any UK Parliament since Mitcham & Morden in 1982, and the first in Scotland since Glasgow Pollok in 1967. Indeed to date it is the only seat to have changed hands in a by-election to the Scottish Parliament.
I would expect that to remain the case with Aberdeen Donside, but it will be interesting to see what the swing between SNP and Labour will be.

[Deleted]

Aberdeen Donside by-election, 2013

(Fixed link -Kris)

[Deleted]

Funeral to be held this Friday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on North Anderson Drive at 12.30pm.

[greatkingrat]

According to the rules of the Scottish Parliament, the by-election date is decided by the Presiding Officer, and must be within 3 months of the vacancy occurring. I doubt it would be held in July, so mid to late June seems most likely.

[Deleted]

Apr 29, 2013 16:10:38 GMT greatkingrat said:

According to the rules of the Scottish Parliament, the by-election date is decided by the Presiding Officer, and must be within 3 months of the vacancy occurring. I doubt it would be held in July, so mid to late June seems most likely.

and what a welcome most sensible practice a modern parliament not bound in stupid protocol and nonsense can do.

[erlend]

Actually that is a heavy duty protocol. There is also a tendency not to want byelections in the school holiday. If a vacancy occurs in late May that really means it has to be called within a fortnight or as schools are not back till the 20th August. It might be easier to leave it another couple of weeks, but oh no. Or it occurs in the holidays.

[AdminSTB]

I presume that's why there's a three month allowance, so that there is the flexibility to compensate for the six weeks of summer holidays.

[Pete Whitehead]

This thread should be in the local by-elections forum surely?

[erlend]

I think that calling it within a fortnigh to f the vacancy for a 3 week campaign can be unreasonable. Would be campaigns (including independents) have to be set up. Freepoes has to be negotiated with the post office. This is particularly true if the vacancy was unexpected. And at the other end I would rather not have loads of the lectorate away in the final couple of weeks. There should be some chance for them to hear the arguments.

And there are similar issues in the depths of winter for not having one in December or half of January. Partly involving the new register happening. I have fought elections when you get given loads of new voters on the 28th november. It is inefficient and means that the electorate are not contacted properly.

[greenchristian]

Apr 30, 2013 10:49:37 GMT Pete Whitehead said:

This thread should be in the local by-elections forum surely?

It's a seat in the Scottish Parliament, so this section seems entirely appropriate for it.

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 12:05:12 GMT greenchristian said:

Apr 30, 2013 10:49:37 GMT Pete Whitehead said:

This thread should be in the local by-elections forum surely?

It's a seat in the Scottish Parliament, so this section seems entirely appropriate for it.

I don't think UKIP like to recognise the existence of it. I look forward to them standing and preaching their 'abolish Holyrood' message.

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2013 13:41:43 GMT @trident said:

Are UKIP officially in favour of abolishing the Scottish Parliament?

Also, how do people think this by-election will go? Given the 27% SNP majority last time, the Nats must be heavy favourites, although it will depend on whether people are in a Holyrood or Westminster mindset when voting....

UKIP went into the last Holyrood election with plans to replace MSPs and effectively going back to the old Scottish Grand Committee system. Polls show this appeals directly to about 3% of the population. I think they may have changed this now.. no idea what to though.

I'm not going to comment on the by-election itself until after Friday.

[Deleted]

Yeah, UKIP's policy last time was basically Lord Forsyth's latest idea, which was to abolish MSPs and allow Scottish MPs to form the Scottish Government while sitting in the Scottish Parliament Building a certain number of days per week. This was an update to their previous policy, which was to abolish devolution outright.

I can't find anything on UKIP's website to suggest that this has since changed.

[martyn]

Apr 30, 2013 10:49:37 GMT Pete Whitehead said:

This thread should be in the local by-elections forum surely?

Ever got the feeling someone's at the wind up?

[Deleted]

I would just like to echo what Fraser has said about Labour. Barney Crockett was the candidate in 2011 and I don't hesitate in saying he will have pulled more votes into Labour than they would have got otherwise. It is, however, worth pointing out that both Labour and SNP were heavily focused on Aberdeen Central, which was thought to be on of the most marginal constituencies. I can see from twitter that Labour and SNP have both begun campaigning.

I've heard some talk about Christian Allard. Anyone know much about him?

Mark Mcdonald will be hoping Allard up to scratch. Despite being one of the more active SNP backbenchers, he'll have a difficult job getting reelected on the list in 2016, all the constituency MSPs (barring Aberdeen Central) have stonking great majorities that should survive a change in SNP fortunes.

Kristian Chapman is the young, enthusiastic, perennial candidate. Millie Mcleod, the previous candidate, lost her council seat last year. Steve Delaney, councillor in the ward, is another possibility, might have a better chance.

Scottish Greens Surprised we came 5th here.. it's a truly awful area for us and includes the council ward in which I romped to victory last May..  9th place, last, and less transfer friendly than a disgraced ex-Lib Dem. Victory, right?

I would not expect a consitituency candidate, I would in any other of the Aberdeen/Shire constituencies, but not here. Worth noting I have no involvement anymore.

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I've attached the table from wikipedia that has the regional votes noted.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[andrea]

Christian Allard works for Dennis Robertson MSP. He's a member of Westhill & Elrick Community Council, Scottish Seafood Association, Skene Heritage Society and Aberdeen CND.

Looking at the SNP names in Aberdeen and around....Aberdeenshire group leader Joanna Strathdee stood in Aberdeen North in 2010 GE. What about Callum McCaig? Other than having been one of the youngest council leaders, he worked for Maureen Watt and now for Kevin Stewart MSP.

[Deleted]

From conversations I had yesterday, I can tell you that the local Greens are currently debating whether or not to stand. Apparently, some local members are determined to have a candidate, whilst others were surprised that the idea was evening being suggested. I also gather that they might be considering potential candidates from beyond Aberdeen itself.

[Deleted]

Ha, I think they meant from Aberdeenshire as opposed to Aberdeen. No names were mentioned, but I'm guessing that Martin Ford could stand if he wanted to.