Tory leader unveils Kerr as candidate
Central Scotland Regional Equality Council (CSREC) welcomed five candidates standing in next week’s council election to the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum on Thursday for a hustings .
Morag Fulton (SNP), Corrie McChord (Labour), Alasdair Tollemache (Greens), Neil Benny (Conservatives) and Fayzan Rehman (Liberal Democrats) spoke about their parties’ plans.
Among the issues discussed were the need to achieve gender equality in the council, both in terms of elected representatives and staff; mental health services for older people beyond dementia care; bullying and hate crime; and the need to ensure Stirling remains a welcoming place for refugees.
CSREC manager Arun Gopinath said: “It was encouraging to see a good turnout at the equality hustings and the robustness of issues raised before the representatives so they are fully aware of the concerns of people in Stirling regarding equality and what the parties should be focussing on.
“We were especially encouraged that all parties recognised that more needs to be done as far as tackling hate crime is concerned and that there is no place for such an abhorrent thing as hate crime in our society.”
A similar hustings event was held in Alloa Town Hall and another is planned on Monday in Falkirk Trinity Church.
Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson was in Stirling on Monday to reveal the party’s candidate for the Westminster elections.
Bridge of Allan businessman Stephen Kerr has been selected to represent the party.
He stood at the 2015 poll and come third behind the SNP and Labour.
Tory leader Ms Davidson issued a war cry ahead of the council elections next week and the Westminster poll on June 8, saying the Conservatives will fight for local issues that matter.
“We want to have representatives in every community in Scotland,” she said. “We want to show that we are truly a national party again.
“I think people will see that we are the party that is here to take the fight to the SNP and I think they will also see that a huge number of local, hard-working individuals who are putting delivering services ahead of debating the constitution.”
Ms Davidson had a pop at the area’s current representative Steven Paterson and accused nationalists of putting constitutional issues ahead of the ones that matter to residents.
“Stephen is the candidate to take on the SNP,” she said.
“He is a local man with experience in the business world. In the last two years people haven’t had that much back from their local SNP MP.
“We have got the opportunity here for people to say they want their MP to focus on priorities, rather than debating the constitution.”
Mr Kerr, who polled 12,051 votes in 2015 and just failed to overtake Labour’s Johanna Boyd (13,303), hopes to build on the progress made by his party in Scotland in recent years.
“I was as surprised as anyone when the Prime Minister announced the election,” he told the Observer.
“But as soon as she did I was convinced that I wanted to stand again. I believe I am the candidate to stand up to the SNP.
“There are issues that need addressing. We held a street stall in Stirling on Saturday where people were queuing up to speak to us.
“People were telling us that they are sick of the SNP’s constitutional game playing and they do not want more uncertainty.”
He spoke of the importance of building on the City Region Deal and boosting job opportunities across the area.
“I am the candidate for growing the economy,” he said. “I want to deliver jobs growth for Stirling and build on the talent that there is in this area.”
Mr Kerr works as a sales leader for Kimberley-Clark Professional. With responsibilities across western Europe, he has a practical experience of building a successful business.
The father-of-four is a fourth generation Mormon. His greatgrandmother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1900s.