Smaller parties hope to upset the status quo on regional list
WITH the SNP expected to take most if not all the eight constituency seats in the city, the battle for a seat through the regional list is fiercer than ever.
Labour are likely to win most out of the seven list seats up for grabs in Glasgow, but there is competition among smaller parties and movements.
There are 13 options on the second ballot paper. As well as the four parties standing in every city constituency, SNP, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat, there are the Greens, two socialist parties, two unionist and some single issue campaign groups.
Labour, the Tories and Greens are expected to share the list seats, between them but some others are hopeful of upsetting the status quo and winning enough votes to get a seat.
Rise has independence campaigners and former MSPs standing across the country.
Cat Boyd is top of the Rise list in Glasgow. She was a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign and active in anti-war and anti-austerity campaigns.
She said: “Rise is a product of the independence movement. It is a new elec- toral alliance but it has a strong history with roots in the anti-poll tax campaign, trade unionism and the independence campaign.”
Ms Boyd said there are three central policies she is campaigning on in Glasgow, to tax the richest at £605, to scrap the council tax and to have a living income for unpaid carers.
Scrapping the Offensive Behaviour at Football act and introducing rent controls are also on the agenda.
She added: “We are not standing just to make up the numbers we are standing to win a seat and take the concerns of ordinary people to the Scottish Parliament. It will be difficult but not impossible.
Solidarity is the party headed by former SSP MSP Tommy Sheridan. Mr Sheridan said: “We are not a party that seeks to be all things to all men.
“We stand for the working class, the pensioners, the low-paid and all those overlooked and exploited by the mainstream political parties.
“We stand for an independent, nuclear-weapon free socialist Scotland, free of foodbanks and full of equality.”
TUSC, another socialist party, is not on the regional list but instead is standing in three city seats taking on the big four parties.
Brian Smith, a Glasgow trade union activist, is the TUSC candidate in Cathcart.
He said: “We are standing as an anti-austerity, socialist alternative. The Tories and LibDems have no credibility but Labour and the SNP talk anti-austerity but pass on the cuts from Holyrood and from the City Chambers.
“We are realistic about our chances, but we are giving people an opportunity to vote for what they believe in and also to build a bigger left wing socialist movement in Scotland.”
He said Rise and Solidarity are also socialist organisations and said he and TUSC would be calling for people to vote on the list for anticuts candidates.
Scottish Women’s Equality Party are campaigning on issues like pensions and gender equality in the workplace.
Anne Beetham, lead candidate in Glasgow said: “We want Scotland to lead the way in gender equality.”
“I’ll be fighting for that by working at the highest level to tackle issues that exclude and hold back women in our society. Putting this right will benefit everyone.”
Ukip is looking for its first MSP, but it is unlikely to be in Glasgow. The party has three list candidates and is not standing in any constituencies.
The Animal Welfare Party, Scottish Christian Party, The Unionist Party, and an independent Andrew McCullagh are also standing for the Glasgow regional list.