General Election 2010 – Off the screen and onto doorsteps in Glasgow North-West

John Robertson is defending a 10,000 vote majority for the Labour Party in Glasgow North-West. Not only that, he is defending years of work and what he sees as major achievements by his party in government creating jobs, revolutionising housing provision, pensions and welfare as a huge asset for the party.
‘The sad thing about this election is that it will be fought on television,’ he said. ‘The economy is where the fight is going to be. The question is – will people get to the ballot box and vote for a change or will they stick with what they know?’
The trick now, he says, is whether to swallow the unpleasant tasting medicine of spending cuts with Labour’s spoonful of sugar or not.
‘My line is that we should do it gradually, that we have to stimulate growth because, at the end of day, when there’s growth and we have to pay money back, it becomes easier. But if we stop investing,we will end up in another recession.’
With a Nationalist government at Holyrood, the Scottish National Party’s Margaret Park casts a pragmatic eye over Westminster politics.
‘We will work in partnership with other parties on an issue-by-issue basis and we will deal with matters that affect Glasgow North West, Glasgow and Scotland as a whole,’ she said.
Natalie McKee is worried that the politics of the Westminster pork barrel will put people off voting. The LibDem candidate flags up her party’s push for electoral reform, saying ‘One in four people in the country has voted LibDem but that doesn’t reflect in the number of MPs we have.’
She added: ‘The LibDems have been calling for reform of Parliament for a long time and are absolutely disgusted with what’s going on.I want more transparency on MPs’ expenses,’she said. The optometrist, who is preparing to fight her first general election (but did stand at a by-election) regards LibDem Treasury spokesman and former Glasgow Councillor, Vince Cable, as a huge asset for the party.
Others expected to stand are: Richard Sullivan – Conservative, Moira Crawford – Green Party; Mark Livingston – Communist.