Has anyone had

[rogueantimatter]

parliamentary candidates on their doorstep?

I've had Jo Swinson (lib dem) and John Nicolson (snp) here. Jo Swinson came across as likeable in RL, less convinced by John Nicolson. I know which way I'm going to vote anyway but it was great to actually meet them both. Very interesting to talk to them in the flesh instead of watching them on tv.

What are your candidates like in RL? Please keep it polite.

[Arkadia]

Well, yours is a constituency that may change hands. Mine is not, so I have seen zilch.
I hope that if JN loses his seat he will be called back on This Week anyway.

[cheeseandcrackers77]

Must be in the same area as you. Haven't JS and JN at the door but there is a hustings next wed I was thinking of going to. JS will get my vote anyway but still interested in what will be said.

[rogueantimatter]

OOh. That sounds great. Thanks for saying.

[cheeseandcrackers77]

On in the new hub I think it starts at 7.30pm

[prettybird]

My dad used to get visits from Jo Swinson (and voted for her after he stopped voting Labour because of the Iraq War) but told her last time that he wouldn't be voting for her (and why) and has reiterated that to a telephone canvasser, so doubt he'll get a visit.

Not been visited yet here (Glasgow South Side) but usually do get a visit from at least one party. Had two lots of election literature so far: a leaflet each from the Conservatives and the SNP.

[rogueantimatter]

Ooh that's interesting.

I guess the candidates need to prioritise undecided voters. It's probably a time-intensive thing to go round doors. JN probably only stayed on my doorstep because I said I was going to vote tactically to keep the cons out. He claimed it's between him and the cons here - I'm sure it's not though. I was keen to explain my position to him.

[cheeseandcrackers77]

I don't think it is Con. We were lib dem for at least 10 years prior to 2015.

[MacarenaFerreiro]

We're in the same constituency as you and have had neither! We're down the end of a cul de sac and nobody ventures down here. Having said that we've a "Jo Swinson" sign in the front garden so anyone else would be daft to bother knocking on the door.

At the last GE we had a very nice labour guy around, I explained that I wouldn't be voting for him because the only hope of keeping SNP out was with a Lib Dem vote and he was very polite and charming - said that he would be proud to represent us if he were elected and gave us his card. Nice guy.

If Nicolson dares to knock I'll be asking him why he blocked me on Twitter for querying his out of date photo last time round and asking if he thinks blocking non SNP voters is really what MPs should be doing?

[MacarenaFerreiro]

Nicolson is talking rubbish - if you look at the last GE results it was only 2,000 votes between him and Swinson. She's his real challenge and polls suggest she might sneak it back this time. Here's hoping.

[CocoaLeaves]

Yes, JN was at my door, he said it was between him and the Conservative candidate. He talked at me, rather than to me. I told him I was voting for the previous incumbent. He said she was sitting third in the polls. I cannot believe that is true. I said she is still getting my vote.

[MacarenaFerreiro]

there's a lot of us East Dunbartonshire-ers on here. I'll be giving people the secret MN wink and handshake in Waitrose or Asda to see if I recognise any of you...

[prettybird]

Was over at my dad's last night and was talking with two of his neighbours (I think late 60s).

They were both very unimpressed with Jo Swinson's election literature which had nothing positive in it and was just an attack on the SNP and they wouldn't be voting for her l.

Dad says he's had the Labour and Conservative candidates around. Said they were very pleasant - but he sent them on their way.

So that's at least 3 votes for the SNP.

[Shenanagins]

Wow JN has actually engaged directly with the electorate rather than through twitter whereby he can just block those nasty people who don't hang onto every tweet.

Dh and I have differing political views but both of us are voting for Swinson to get the useless JN out.

I want someone who is allowed to have and share their own views not just what they've been told to believe by the party. Plus Jo was a very good mp.

[StoorieHoose]

I've had the sitting SNP candidate at the door about 3 times but not see hide nor hair of the Labour candidate who lives round the corner from me. He is the new local councillor too so if he is elected how he will manage to do both I have no clue

[CocoaLeaves]

I was thinking about this earlier. Did JS lose her seat as part of the fall out from the Conservative-LibDem Coalition? I thought she was a good MP.

[rogueantimatter]

Hello again.

prettybird Unfortunately I agree with your DF about the very negative campaign leaflets. Very light on policies. I'm still going to vote for JS as I think Lib Dem and probably JS are preferable to snp and JN.

Someone was going round the doors yesterday wearing a purple tabard (?) as I was going out. I don't know which party he was representing.

No sign of cons or labour on this street.

I have become obsessed with this election! I'll probably spend Thursday night on the sofa following the results and dozing intermittently like I did on the night of the indy ref. I know it won't change the result and I'll be knackered and probably depressed and grumpy on Friday, but I don't think I'll be able to resist

I went to the local hustings on Wednesday. The labour candidate seemed competent, likeable and genuine. JS was her usual self, as was JN. Conservative candidate had a tough gig. I thought the applause was divided mostly between libs and snp. Very few young people attended. A young person I spoke to felt that JN was the most charismatic. DS had seen JN at school previously and described him as a 'loudmouth.' His opinion wasn't changed. As, on the doorstep he mentioned more than once that he had been a journalist. I find that really funny - journalism has a terrible reputation. Twice he referred to his Westminster position in the present tense!

cocoa I've heard mixed opinion about JS. The coalition definitely didn't help. She now apologises for voting to raise tuition fees and describes it as a mistake.

DS is going to study in London. Basically we can't afford it, even with his (modest) scholarship, but we're hoping he can get work and be extremely frugal. I hadn't realised how disadvantaged Scottish students who study in England are as they have to pay tuition fees + the harsher Scottish loans repayment system. Loans are repayable at a lower threshold and for longer than the English loans. It's really scary. I meant to ask JN about this but I forgot. Kicking myself.
On another thread a poster described this as a penalty for talented and/or ambitious Scottish students. Scottish students are subsidised by the Scottish government providing they study in Scotland or UK, but not in rUK.

In DS' case, there's one place available in Scotland for his performing arts course specialism (which he was actually offered) but the course has a very small intake and the graduate opportunities here are much more limited than in London. Students who move to London for a masters often find they don't have long enough to establish themselves and get work before they run completely out of money. Meanwhile Scottish students wanting to study in Scotland at the most highly regarded institutions are competing against the whole of the UK, EU and rest of the world. Numbers for Scottish students are capped while non-EU students in particular, who pay the highest fees seem to be particularly encouraged.

I'm convinced that in the unhappy event of Scottish independence there would be a huge brain drain and the snp 'outward looking, confident nation' spiel would seem even more farfetched. Imagine the waste there would be on setting up new institutions/agencies/buildings etc. Remember the Scottish parliament building? It doesn't bear thinking about.

[rogueantimatter]

Oops sorry for the rant.

[CreamCol0uredP0nies]

The cynic in me has always thought that the main reason for free tuition fees in Scotland for Scots, is to keep the talent well and truly in Scotland. At least for the duration of university.
London is a very expensive place for students ( for everyone). You have my sympathies. That said, there are so many opportunities there.
On a lighter note, I met John Nicholson years ago and I don't think I've ever met anyone who was just so thrilled to bits with himself!
If he doesn't get re-elected, I feel the role of Pantomime Dame could be right up his street.

[Timeandtune]

Hello to the EDC crowd. DH and I have been leafleting like mad for the Lib Dems. I have seen parts of Bishopbriggs and Kirkie that I never knew existed and could do a PhD on the streets of Bearsden.

[MacarenaFerreiro]

Hello timeandtune, give us a wave next time you're leafleting Bearsden ;-)

I'm not seeing ANY Conservative posters round here which seems to contradict the "posh Tories from Bearsden/Milngavie" bile which the yessers spout. Few Labour ones but SNP/LibDem definitely most prominent.

I think Jo was a good MP last time round. She came to the school fair and was happy to stand and chat about anything - not just politics and threw the welly with the best of them. State school educated. She's a local lass and her parents live in the area. She knows East Dunbartonshire inside out.

Nicholson is not as local. Didn't grow up here, lived in London until he decided to be an MP and the SNP parachuted him in here. Privately educated on the south side. I don't see him at ANY local events except when canvassing. He seems more interesrted in pursuing his media career than throwing wellies at school fairs...

I think her vote last time was hit by the general move away from Lib Dems which happened everywhere. We're both voting for her now, and really hope she gets back in.

[rogueantimatter]

Macareno Cream I had to stop myself staring at JN's dazzlingly white teeth.

First Q at the hustings - 'Why did you originally get into politics?' was interesting IMO. JS and labour candidate, whose name I've forgotten, mentioned debating and political values. Cons candidate claimed to have been inspired by her groundbreaking granny.
JN, otoh, said he realised when he was a journalists that journalists have the power to comment on the law, whereas mps have the power to change laws so he decided to become an mp. No mention of values/politics.....

[rogueantimatter]

Time

Good for you and your leafleting. I do admire people like you who go out and give up their time for their cause. I nearly offered to help but I don't have the confidence or sufficiently detailed knowledge to debate with the general public. Do many people stop to talk to you?

[CocoaLeaves]

Thank you for the views on why JS was voted out. It is interesting. In fact, all the comments are as I have been quite switched off from this election. The main thing which interested me was JS standing again.

I have been comparing the party manifestos. I cannot see how Labour's is affordable, although I get the arguments that the Tories have cut and privatised too far. I guess by the tax rises? But then, there are different aspects which apply to Scotland.

The Lib Dem one seems something I can subscribe to, as well as being happy with JS as a local MP (my main reason for voting for her, I would really like her to get back in). I don't know what their overall chances are -pretty slim I would have thought.

I don't want indyref2, and I thought JN was just overbearing. The SNP do not speak for all Scots, and that grates with me. But I also don't like the Labour brocialism.

[CocoaLeaves]

Yes, agree, well done on the leafleting. I wanted to do this, but also felt clueless and already overstretched with my own issues. But there are certainly leaflets getting through my door!

[Timeandtune]

If you are interested you can get involved on many levels. You can stuff or address envelopes as well as deliver leaflets. A bundle of 100 would take an hour or so to deliver.

You can call people or do door knocking but I don't have the nerve for that.

I generally find people very nice and it is great exercise. All of this applies to all parties of course- not just the LDs. I have been LD since I turned 17 ( forty years ago yikes) and have seen them through many ups and downs. Mainly downs to be honest.

I think Jo was a good constituency MP and I like her manner.