Candidates revealed in race for Motherwell and Wishaw ward

Apr 7 2011 by Leona Greenan, Hamilton Advertiser

SIX candidates have been unveiled in the battle to replace Jack McConnell as MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw.

The candidates are busy jostling for your vote on Thursday, May 5 as the race to Holyrood hots up in the constituency.

Frontrunner to succeed the former First Minister in representing the two towns is Wishaw Labour councillor John Pentland.

He is facing strong opposition from the SNP’s Clare Adamson – also a Wishaw area councillor.

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party will be contested by Robert Burgess, while Beverley Hope will represent the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The Christian Party, “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship”, have Tom Selfridge standing for them, while the All Scotland Pensioners Party, which is an amalgamation of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party and the Senior Citizens Party, are running with John Swinburne as their candidate.

Those hoping to dislodge Labour from the constituency will face a hard fight.

In 2007, Jack McConnell was elected with a majority of almost 6000 – while the other six candidates only managed to poll just short of 7000 votes between all of them.

The dissolution of Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, March 22 marked the end of an era in Scottish politics as the curtain came down on Jack McConnell’s career as an MSP.

The Motherwell and Wishaw representative has served at Holyrood since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Serving initially as Finance Minister under Donald Dewar, he became First Minister in November 2001. He was the incumbent of Bute House for five-and-a-half years, before election defeat in 2007 by the SNP saw him stand down as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, but continue as MSP.