Meet your Highlands & Islands list candidates: Labour and Lib Dems
We asked the parties’ top list candidates in the Highlands and Islands region, hoping to win your vote in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election on May 7, some tricky questions, and this is how they answered - or not.
Each person in Scotland is represented by eight MSPs – one ’constituency’ MSP and seven ’regional’ or ’list’ MSPs.
In the Holyrood election on Thursday May 7, voters in the Highlands and Islands will be asked, on the lilac-coloured ballot paper, to vote for one ’constituency’ MSP, representing whichever of the three constituencies they live in: Argyll and Bute, or Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, or Na h-Eileanan an Iar. Choose one candidate by marking ‘X’ next to your choice. The winner from each constituency will be decided by the first-past-the-post system. You can read profiles from your constituency’s candidates in our newspapers this week, as well as at www.westcoasttoday.co.uk.
On election day, voters will also be asked, on the peach-coloured ballot paper, to elect seven ’regional’ or ’list’ MSPs, representing the whole Highlands and Islands region. Before the election, each political party publishes a list of candidates for each region. The second ballot paper has a list of political parties. Voters put one ’X’ next to their choice of political party. The seven ’list’ MSPs come from the winning parties, decided by the complex Additional Member System. You can read profiles from each party, and from their top-of-the-list candidates, below, starting with the first alphabetically, followed by the others during election week.
We asked every party standing in the Highlands and Islands why voters here should mark an ’X’ next to their party on the peach-coloured ballot paper. Further, we asked: people feel rising costs, cuts to services, and threats to our security - what would their party do?
We also asked the same five questions to every candidate within the top three of the parties’ lists:
1. Why should we be stuck with you as our MSP for the next five years?
2. What do you promise to do, for c. £400k plus expenses over those five years, to make our lives better?
3. Do you commit to always telling the truth?
4. Do you commit to protecting every citizen, no matter their creed, colour, or religion?
5. Is man-made climate change real, and a threat to the lives of our children, their children, and so on?
Here is what they said...
Scottish Labour
Isla McCay
1. As a new voice in politics, I’ll be focused on finding practical solutions and opportunities to help build a better future for our communities.
2. I’ll listen to, respect, and work as hard as I can to advocate for the people of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch. My first priority will be working to make a real and positive difference for our communities, rather than getting caught up in party politics or blaming others.
3. Yes, honesty is essential for trust in politics and I will always strive to be transparent and open with those I’m representing.
4. Yes, everyone deserves to be respected and treated with dignity and I would want to speak up for everyone in our constituency.
5. Climate change is taking place and that is being driven by human behaviour. The consequences of it which are being seen around the world today will continue to worsen if we do not act collectively to reduce our environmental impact. Here in Scotland, this has looked like higher wildlife risks, flooding, and more volatile and extreme weather events. We must have a just transition away from fossil fuels that secures a positive and sustainable future for our communities.
Donald MacKinnon
I have put myself forward to be an MSP because I’m concerned about the future of our islands. The population projections are frightening.
When I look at the powers of the Scottish Parliament I don’t see that they are being used to their full potential to deliver the change we need to reverse the trend of depopulation. I promise to be a strong voice for us in Holyrood.
I will fight for good jobs and housing to provide opportunities for the next generation. After nearly two decades of SNP government our ferry service is in chaos, I will work hard to deliver solutions to the current crisis.
Honesty in politics is fundamental, I commit to telling the truth and protecting every citizen no matter their creed, colour or religion.
I believe that man-made climate change is real and a pressing issue for the future of our communities. In tackling it I want to see a just transition that brings workers and communities with us.
That means making sure that we don’t create an unnecessary cliff edge for workers in the oil and gas industry and that the expansion of renewable energy delivers opportunities for meaningful community benefits, shares and ownership.
Eva Kestner
1. I don’t take anyone’s support for granted. I’m running because I care about Highland and want to help deliver the change it needs by sorting out the basics. I believe politicians should listen to and work with communities, not make decisions from a distance.
2. I bring over a decade of experience in finance and operations in the charity sector, and I know how to get things done in systems that are stretched and underfunded. I want to strengthen rural healthcare and social care, address housing pressures, and support good local jobs, so our communities can thrive.
3. Trust in politics has been damaged, and rebuilding it matters. I believe that comes from being open, straightforward, and accountable. That means being honest about the challenges we face and working with people locally to find solutions.
4. The Highlands are built on strong, welcoming communities. I believe in protecting that by ensuring everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Even where we disagree, we should do so respectfully and find ways to move forward together.
5. Climate change is already affecting our communities, with more extreme weather becoming more common. Tackling it is essential, but it’s also an opportunity to create skilled jobs, invest in community-owned energy, and embrace innovation.
Scottish Liberal Democrats
All across the Highlands and Islands, people feel tired and let down. They deserve better.
At this election, Scottish Liberal Democrats are offering a change with fairness at its heart.
We’ve got realistic plans to help you with the cost of living, to give you the healthcare you need when you need it, to end the ferries fiasco, to fix our roads and get Scotland moving again.
From our plans for a new home insulation scheme, to a ferries bill that will guarantee vessels are replaced on time and within budget, we’re all about getting stuff done.
By voting for us on that second, peach ballot paper, you can elect a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands region who will deliver change with fairness at its heart.
Morven-May MacCallum and Declan Gallacher
1. Scottish Liberal Democrats believe in decentralising healthcare to increase the range of services, treatments and diagnoses available locally. We would re-write the rules so that local people receive much more of the money companies make from generating renewable energy near them.
2. We will legislate to make sure that ferries are replaced on time and within budget. We will insulate cold homes with a new emergency insulation scheme. We will invest £400 million into care to let people leave hospital on time and clear waits, and boost support for unpaid carers by £400 a year.
3. Absolutely. Through our plans for a new Accountability Act, we will put decency, tolerance and respect back into public life.
4. Scottish Liberal Democrats believe in fairness for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from. We will confront violence against women and girls, champion human rights legislation and resist any attempts to weaken it.
5. Climate change is the defining challenge of our generation and it poses a huge threat to future generations. We would make homes cleaner and cheaper to heat with a new emergency insulation programme, and accelerate the rollout of smart, climate-friendly heating systems.
Alan Reid
The primary duty of an MSP is to serve their constituents. To that end, I would make the case to Parliament for a rolling 30-year ferry and port infrastructure replacement strategy, so that no island or peninsula community is ever again left without a reliable ferry service.
Among my other priorities are a solution to stop landslides blocking the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful which doesn’t involve closing the road for years, access to GPs, NHS dentists and mental health specialists without very long waits, and improving social care so that people who could return home are not left lying in a hospital bed for far longer than they need to.
We can achieve this by valuing dedicated social care staff more, increasing their wages and giving social care staff a proper career structure to retain experienced staff.
I will always tell the truth except I reserve the right to mislead the enemy in time of war.
I will give equal consideration to all people no matter their creed, colour, religion, sex, age or other protected characteristic.
Climate change caused by human activities is a serious threat to future generations and we must become a carbon neutral society.
Full list of party candidates in the Highlands & Islands region
Advance UK
Matt Sheppard
Steve Skerrett
Alliance to Liberate Scotland
Brian Nugent
Andrew MacDonald
Kenny Mackenzie
Laùra Hänsler
Allan Duffy
Flora Badger
Independence for Scotland Party
Fiona Nelson
Independent Green Voice
Nicola Siddall
Reform UK
Vic Currie
Max Bannerman
Amanda Hampsey
Fred Campbell
Malcom McTaggart
Jon Whitton
John Coupland
Scottish Christian Party
Donald Boyd
Scottish Conservative & Unionist
Tim Eagle
Jamie Halcro Johnston
Helen Crawford
Ruraidh Stewart
George MacPherson
Peter Wallace
Donald MacKenzie
Douglas Barnett
Scottish Family Party
Kenny Stone
Allan MacEachen
Rachel Gibson
Eva Morrice
Harriet Woolmore
Scottish Green
Ariane Burgess
Kristopher Leask
Kate Willis
Draeyk van der Horn
Alex Armitage
Anne Thomas
Julie Christie
Scottish Labour
Isla McCay
Donald MacKinnon
Eva Kestner
John Erskine
Mike Macleod
Callum George
Shaun Fraser
David Blair
Scottish Liberal Democrat
Morven-May MacCallum
Alan Reid
Declan Gallacher
Angela Maclean
Denis Rixson
Guy Grieve
Fiona Bennett
Scottish Libertarian Party
Nathan Lumb
Scottish National Party
Maree Todd
Robert Leslie
Emma Roddick
Hannah Goodlad
Eilidh Munro
Jérémie Fernandes
Scottish Rural Party
Alasdair Fletcher
Ruaridh Ormiston
Scottish Socialist Party
Willie Hamilton
Brenda Nicholson
Workers Party of Britain
Syed Hussain
Independent
Duncan MacPherson
Independent
Mick Rice
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