Candidates’ pitch for your votes
Starting gun fires for parties
As the General Election was called this week the majority of parties had candidates in place to kick off their campaigns in the Stirling constituency. Nominations for the Stirling seat close on Thursday November 14. Candidates standing so far are: Conservative, Stephen Kerr.
Current MP Mr Kerr holds the Stirling seat with a majority of 148.
Dundeeborn Mr Kerr moved to Stirling in 1982 as a student. He is married with four children and lives in Stirling.
Before entering parliament he worked as a sales leader for KimberleyClark Professional.
He is also a fourth generation Mormon, after his great grandmother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in the early 1900s.
Mr Kerr stood in Stirling at the General Elections of 2005 and 2015. He lost to Labour the first time, and the SNP the second time, before taking the seat in June 2017.
Mr Kerr said:“My focus during this campaign is the same as it has been during my tenure in office – to stand up for Scotland in the United Kingdom.
“The indecision in Parliament, something the SNP have done everything to foster, has made this election inevitable.
“They revel in the crisis, using it to stoke up grievance to feed their core objective. Only the Scottish Conservatives will stand up effectively against Nicola Sturgeon and indyref 2.
“Labour have capitulated on this issue with senior Labour MPs now talking openly about supporting her referendum. In 2014 we said no, we meant it. We need to move on from their obsession about independence as much as we need to move on from Brexit and focus on the things that really matter. Jobs, healthcare, education, climate change and our public services.
“As your MP I have always sought to focus on the issues that matter and on helping and supporting people through the 15,000 cases my office has dealt with since 2017. Prolonging Brexit and having to face Indyref 2 in 2020 will be extremely damaging for Scotland. The Scottish Conservatives are the only party strong enough in Stirling to defeat the SNP and stop this appalling prospect.”
SNP, Alyn Smith
Mr Smith has been a Scotland MEP for 15 years. Born in Glasgow, he currently lives in Edinburgh.
He studied law and European law at the University of Leeds and spent a year studying on the Erasmus Programme at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
In 1996 he graduated from Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, and gained a master’s degree in European studies from the College of Europe in Natolin.
He qualified as a lawyer with London commercial law firm Clifford Chance.
As an MEP he was based in the capital and Wick, but moved to Stirling in August to share an office with Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford. Mr Smith is leader of the SNP group in the European Parliament and President of the European Free Alliance Group. If elected in Stirling he will stand down as MEP to be be replaced in Brussels by the next placed SNP European candidate.
Mr Smith said:“This election has come about entirely because UK politics is broken and Boris Johnson’s disastrous Tory government is hopelessly split on Europe. Stirling deserves better. As a new Stirling resident I want to stand up for my home and be a representative that puts Stirling‘s interests above politics. I stand on my record of 16 years of public service in the European Parliament, I can put that experience to good use bringing some sense to Westminster.
“This area voted strongly to remain in the EU in 2016, yet faces being taken out of Europe against our democratic will and in the face of all evidence that it will make us poorer as a society and as an economy. “There is still hope, we can still stop it. A vote for the SNP in this election is a vote to stop Brexit, and it is a vote for Scotland’s right to decide our own future.
“Stirling is a magnificent and diverse jewel in the crown constituency, the heart of Scotland. I think together we can achieve brilliant things here, putting this area back on the map.
“I’ve represented the whole of Scotland in the European Parliament for 16 years. I’ve made a commitment to Stirling. I have the experience I need to get results for people and communities. I’ve proven what I can do in the European Parliament, I want to bring that experience, my drive and my determination to speak up for your interests to the role as your Member of Parliament.”
Liberal Democrat, Fayzan Rehman
Mr Rehman lives and works in Stirling, designing and delivering IT solutions for both government and private clients. He is married with four children. He completed the 2019 Stirling Marathon in aid of Forth Valley Flyers - Disability Athletics.
In 2018 he finished the Stirling Marathon and raised funds for Unique, a charity supporting families living with very rare chromosome disorders.
He said:“This General Election will decide the future of our country for generations. Scottish Liberal Democrats will be fighting to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for Scotland in the United Kingdom.”
“Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal puts our future prosperity at risk and could leave the UK £70bn worse off than if it had remained in the EU.
“The deal means that we could spend the next decade negotiating trade deals and face a no deal cliff edge at the end of next year. The Tories’eagerness to push for such a damaging deal is shocking.”
“Actions to fight the climate emergency are a priority. We must act now to create a clean, green and carbon-free future, with investment to reduce emissions and boost renewables.
“Strengthening the NHS across the UK is overdue and will be linked to our economic performance.
“The status quo is not acceptable. For example, underfunding of mental health has resulted in Scotland having the highest suicide rate in the UK. We demand better”.
Green, Bryan Quinn
Mr Quinn was born and raised in Clackmannanshire, where he currently lives with his wife Cara and two young children Roman (9) and Logan (6).
After starting his career in the publishing industry he became the first in his family to attend university, studying at Stirling University. Bryan graduated with a first class honours degree in psychology and last year completed a postgraduate qualification in behavioural finance. Since graduating Mr Quinn has been working in financial services.
He also volunteers as a director of Clackmannanshire Credit Union. He previously ran in the 2017 Clacks Council election for the Scottish Green party in Clackmannanshire where he narrowly missed out on becoming the first Green councillor in the council.
He said:“With 10 years left to tackle the climate emergency, Stirling voters can send the strongest possible message on the need for real climate action in a united Europe by voting Green. Our plans for a Green New Deal will create thousands of jobs by investing in climate solutions from warm housing to better public transport and green energy. Road building projects that blight communities such as the Viewforth Link Road must be scrapped, and Stirling’s City Deal must invest in improving the local environment, transport infrastructure and our high streets. Stirling needs an MP who will stand up to developers and fight to protect Park of Keir and other precious green spaces under threat.
“The austerity agenda pushed by Boris Johnson’s Tory party at Westminster and the roll out of Universal Credit has caused untold misery on many low income families in Stirling and throughout Scotland.
“We will fight to stop the roll out of Universal Credit and instead introduce a Universal Basic Income that will provide for the necessities of life without the threat of sanctions. Our membership of the EU has brought freedoms, protection of our rights and investment in our communities. We need to be able to choose our future as an independent state within the EU.”
Labour
As of yesterday (Thursday) Labour did not have a candidate in place for the Stirling constituency.
However, the secretary of the Stirling Constituency Labour Party Mark Eyre said: “Stirling deserves better than being Alyn Smith’s back up plan. He has made it clear Stirling is his second choice. Don’t make him your first choice. Stirling deserves better than a Tory Government hell bent on more austerity and a right-wing Brexit.
“A Tory Brexit that will cost jobs and make you poorer. What has Stephen Kerr done to make you proud in the last two years?
“What did the SNP do to make you proud when Steven Paterson was the MP before that?
“Stirling deserves a fresh start under a Labour Government. A fresh start with a Labour MP who will stand up for you and your family. Labour will stand up for all families who are struggling to get by in a country run by Brexit obsessed Tories and independence obsessed Nationalists.
“Labour will deliver a better, fairer country where everybody is rewarded properly for a hard day’s work and where a home to rent or buy is affordable. Stirling deserves a champion who will fight for the many, not the few. If elected, Labour will always put you first and Labour will work tirelessly to make you proud.
“Stirling deserves nothing less.”