Constituency profile: Glasgow North West

THE Scottish Labour Party’s post-Devolution story is nicely crystallised in Glasgow North West.

The Father of the Nation himself, Donald Dewar, ruled the roost from here, representing its predecessor seat of Anniesland at both Westminster and Edinburgh.

Its reputation as a national stronghold was reinforced with successive and high-profile leaders and Lord Provosts of Glasgow City Council hailing from the constituency, while a traditional working-class backbone in places like Knightswood delivered massive Labour majorities.

Fast forward to 2011 and things change. The area swung to the SNP during its 2011 Holyrood landslide but with the tightest of margins, just seven votes.

During the Referendum it voted Yes, albeit with less of a majority than other Glasgow areas.

Meanwhile, boundary changes, bringing in west end neighbourhoods like Scotstoun, Broomhill and parts of Partick, have altered demographic dynamics in a schizophrenic constituency where the foodbanks and high-rises of Drumchapel are just two miles from the sandstone villas and school catchment concerns of Jordanhill.

If the SNP win here, political change is indeed deep-rooted.

Currently outpolling threetimes MP John Robertson is the SNP’s Carol Monaghan. A mother-of-three and local schoolteacher, she is being portrayed by her team as a symbol of the New Politics – a fresh candidate with life experience, untainted by the ‘Westminster Establishment’.

It may have been front page news for the Washington Post but the contest is also amongst the most localised in Scotland. Monaghan’s campaign headquarters, a former bridal shop, is in the neighbourhood she grew up in and a mile from her family home. Among those canvassed on an unseasonally cold spring afternoon are some of her former pupils. Local incinerator plans and hospital transportation are as likely to come up on the doorsteps as austerity or Trident.

“It’s all about being visible,” says the 42-year-old who had spent the morning visiting undecideds. “The interesting thing is the spread of people saying they’re voting SNP. The traditional support, Labour voters who voted Yes and No voters looking for positivity in their Westminster representation. You can feel the shift.

“People also want to see real people representing them. Not careerists focusing on self-betterment.”

If elected it would be a massive personal upheaval, Monaghan admits. Family roles would need to be reversed for starters.

How does she feel about the polls? “Well, I wouldn’t want to be the other side at the moment. But in the end they count for nothing.

“John Robertson has been largely invisible in the constituency. That’s been his story of the last 15 years. Even people who still support Labour, when you ask who the MP is few can tell you. That’s a shocking indictment.”

It may also be Monaghan’s biggest hurdle. Party loyalty runs deep. Some older Whiteinch residents admit to an appetite for change but also a reluctance to