Economic issues come to the fore in the new Uddingston and Bellshill constituency

Apr 7 2011 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

JOBS and public services are the main issues on the doorstep in the Uddingston and Bellshill seat in the run-up to next month’s poll.

Voters are voicing their concerns to candidates about the faltering economy and its fallout on the Uddingston and Bellshill area.

Labour’s Michael McMahon held the Hamilton North and Bellshill seat since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

He is once again standing for the party in the redrawn constituency of Uddingston and Bellshill along with Richard Lyle for the Scottish National Party, Mark Brown for the Tories and Fraser MacGregor for the Liberal Democrats.

Mr McMahon said this week the two “huge issues” in the constituency campaign are jobs and protecting public services.

“People are concerned about the pressures on local authority services. They want to know if we can protect services and retain employment levels,” he commented.

“Many of the issues facing the constituency are interlinked. Take the shortage of public transport in the area.

“People want to travel further to look for work, but find that the bus services just aren’t there.”

Veteran North Lanarkshire councillor and SNP candidate Richard Lyle echoed his opponent.

“The economic situation is the main thing. Everyone is feeling that things are tight,” he said.

“However, the SNP have a positive record on which to fight the campaign in Uddingston and Bellshill like the abolition of prescription charges and the Council Tax freeze which has saved people a lot of money.”

The constituency’s Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates did not return our call by our deadline.

The Uddingston and Bellshill constituency was created following last year’s boundary review of Scottish Parliament constituencies.

It contains the Whitehill area of Hamilton along with Bothwell, Uddingston, Viewpark and Bellshill.

These areas were all formerly within the old Hamilton North and Bellshill Holyrood constituency.

However, Hamilton’s Old Town, which had been part of that constituency, is now part of the new Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat.

In May 2007, Mr McMahon held Hamilton North and Bellshill for Labour with a majority of 4865 over the SNP’s Alex Neil.