Day: March 30, 2011

The Scottish Parliamentary Elections will be held on 5 May and the following candidates have been confirmed:

Edinburgh Eastern

Ewan Aitken, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Cameron Buchanan, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Kenny MacAskill, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Martin Veart, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Central

Marco Biagi, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour Party
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Iain McGill, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Northern and Leith

Malcolm Chisholm, Scottish Labour Party
Dan Farthing, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Sheila Catriona Dorothy Low, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scottish National Party (SNP)

Edinburgh Pentlands

Simon James Clark, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Ricky Henderson, Scottish Labour Party
Gordon MacDonald, Scottish National Party (SNP)
David William McLetchie, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Southern

Gavin Brown, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Jim Eadie, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Paul Godzik, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Mike Pringle, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Western

Lesley Hinds, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Colin Keir, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Gordon John Lindhurst, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Margaret Joy Smith, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Lothian

ALL SCOTLAND PENSIONERS PARTY – Scottish Senior Citizens Party
Alex Lawson; David Lawson; Morag Thompson; Anna Kerr; Tommi Kerr

BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY
David Orr; Leanne Tracy Marshall; Kevin William Doyle; James Alexander Main

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PARTY “PROCLAIMING CHRIST’S LORDSHIP” – Christians Together
Abimbola Olusola Kadara; Mbuli Malanga Aime Lombaya; Bridget Johnson Mosanya; David Peter Rodney Hews

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE
Michael Thomas McGlynn

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST PARTY
David McLetchie; Gavin Brown; Cameron Buchanan; Gordon Lindhurst; Iain Mcgill; Scott Douglas; Christopher Donnelly; Andrew Hardie; Sheila Low

SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY – Alison Johnstone for MSP
Alison Johnston; Steve Burgess; Maggie Chapman; Peter Andrew McColl; Shonagh McEwan; Adam Ramsay; Kate Joester

SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
Sarah Boyack; Kezia Dugdale; Neil Findlay; Ann Henderson; Jalal Chaudry; Simon MacFadyen; James Ashe

SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Margaret Joy Smith; Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton; Gordon Ferguson Mackenzie; John Loughton; Jacqueline Dianne Bell; Daniel Marisco Farthing; Ian James Younger

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP) – Alex Salmond for First Minister
Kenny MacAskill; Fiona Hyslop; Shirley-Anne Somerville; Angela Constance; George Kerevan; Colin Beattie; Alex Orr; Bill Wilson; Gordon MacDonald; Calum Cashley; Jim Eadie; Alasdair Rankin

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY – Independent Socialist Scotland
Colin Fox; Catriona Grant; Laura Bennison; Andrew McPake; Alistair Hendry; Barbara Scott

SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
David Don Jacobsen; Michael Lynch; Linda Sheridan; Barbara Ann Bryan

SOLIDARITY – SCOTLAND’S SOCIALIST MOVEMENT – SOLIDARITY
Patricia Joan Smith; Ian Drummond; Vanesa Fuertes; Willie Black; Jack Fraser; Shirley Margaret Gibb; Anne Edmonds; Adrian Stuart Cannon

THE LIBERAL PARTY – Liberal Party – Against Coalition Cut Backs
John Hein

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP)
Otto Inglis; Gordon Norrie; Alistair Forrest; Gavin Clark; Alastair MacIntyre

INDEPENDENTS
Mev Brown
David John Hogg
Margo MacDonald
Ken O’Neill

Polls open from 7am – 10pm.

Dave Pickering

 

An affordable housing development which overlooks the Shore in Leith has ‘sold-out’ within a month of being released by Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA).

Sixteen properties in the 60-apartment are designated for ‘shared ownership’, where people buy and own a percentage of the property and rent the remainder from the Association, and each of these have now been reserved.  PoLHA received around 60 applications for the properties, which were priced from £127,500 to £170,000 with most purchasing a 25% share. The remainder of the flats will be allocated for social rent.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, said: “We have had a phenomenal response to the shared ownership offering at Coburg Street.  These are set to be great flats in a great location so that undoubtedly added to their appeal.  However, it also highlights the desperate need there is for affordable homes and how difficult it is for people, particularly young people on starter salaries and others working in key roles such as nursing, to get on the housing ladder. The need for affordable housing has never been greater.”

The flats have open-plan living spaces with modern fitted bathrooms and kitchens including all integrated appliances. Most of the two bedroom properties feature en-suite shower rooms. There are balconies and terraces in 10 of the properties, with a communal landscaped courtyard, as well as a secure underground car park.

Building is due to be completed in the autumn.

Dave Pickering