Candidate takes party’s message to Inchture

We let each party with a chance of winning a seat in Scotland take Gayle Ritchie on the trail with one of their candidates. Today, she follows Scottish Conservative Ian Duncan in Perthshire North

It’s a perfect day for canvassing in Perthshire.

The sun is blazing and, in Ian Duncan’s words, it’s “one of the politest constituencies – even when people are rude”.

I meet Ian, the newly-selected Conservative candidate for Perth and North Perthshire, in Inchture, a peaceful dormitory village between Dundee and Perth.

Arriving ahead of schedule, I take the opportunity to wander round the pretty village and am greeted with smiles and hellos from the few people I meet. A promising start. When Ian turns up, having driven from his home in Edinburgh (he originally hails from Alyth), he’s accompanied by seven activists who have travelled from far and wide.

One is from Dunkeld while another has made the trek from Leven.

Despite the heat, all are sporting bright blue anoraks, with the party name emblazoned across them.

As the general election looms, they’ve stepped up their canvassing sessions to four a day. That’s a lot of walking.

“I’ve got thighs of steel these days,” jokes Ian.

A Tory MEP since 2014, head of the Scottish Parliament’s office in Brussels for seven years and a former second-incommand at the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Ian is well used to the jungle of politics. All this will come in handy because he’s contesting the seat held for 12 years by the SNP’s Pete Wishart.

“We don’t really talk about Pete Wishart,” says Ian, as we march round some of the quirkily named streets (Green Honey Close, Lady Apple Close, Flower of Monorgan Close) knocking on doors and popping campaign leaflets through letter boxes.

“He’s like Marmite – people either like him or they don’t. There’s no need to discuss him at the doors.”

For Ian, canvassing is about being seen and making a good impression on potential voters.

“People like the fact we’re putting in the effort and coming out to speak to them in person. Many of them say ‘we hope this won’t be the last time we see you,’ which is encouraging.

“Some want me to assuage their concerns or give more information on certain issues. If they’re not voting for you, it’s interesting to know why.

“People often say, ‘I used to vote for so and so, but now I’m with you’ so you get a sense of movement, and it’s good for morale.

“There are also those we call loaners. They aren’t Conservative but they dislike the alternatives more than they dislike me. They loan us their votes and I say, ‘if you don’t like me, you can vote me out in five years’.”

Often, people are looking for legitimate reasons to switch parties, and it’s then that Ian hopes they will be charmed by him and his values.

“If I come across as pleasant and people think, ‘that’s a nice chap’, as opposed to ‘who was the a ****** e”, that’s a great thing.”

“As an MEP, putting someone who understands Europe in a position of power is always going to help as that experience is like gold.”

Most of the doors we approach have polite residents with a good few well-wishers, bar one man, who tells activist Angus Forbes to “f*** off”.

Others simply say they are voting for other parties or are too busy to chat. This doesn’t put Ian off. “Of course there are people who don’t like Conservatives but we’re not looking for a landslide.

“If I win by 10 votes I’ll be happy. I’ve got a mountain to climb but I’m going to do my best to get to the top.

“Most people sense it’s a two horse race this time and one horse has to win.”

People like the fact we’re putting in the effort