elections – Page 4 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Male, pale and stale? Reinvigorating Community Councils

ELREC (Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Equality Council) and Granton & District Community Council have organised an event to encourage more BME residents to get involved in neighbourhood activities through Community Councils …

You are invited to an event:

Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils

Thursday, 11 August, 6 – 8.30pm

Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North

The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils and hosted jointly by ELREC- Diversity in Public Life project and the Granton & District Community Council.

Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has been working on Diversity in Public Life project since last year, aiming to increase the participation of the BME community in public life and in the democratic process. The project works with the diverse communities and it is funded by the Scottish Government. Under this project, a special scheme, Public Life Champion (PLC) has been launched to provide advice, training and mentoring to BME individuals who live/work across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Community council triennial elections will take place in Sept-Oct 2016. In the wake of oncoming election, the event will provide useful information (i.e.: nomination/registration process) and practical advice for those who are interested to stand as a community councillor. This event will also help establish a link between community councillors and the prospective BME candidates.

If you are interested to represent the views of your local community to the local authority and other public bodies, then joining the community council would be an ideal vehicle as well as an entry point to get into public life.

See details about: what is community council ?

The event is open to BME residents lived across Edinburgh & Lothians and community council members. Tea/Coffee and refreshments will be provided. Booking is required to give us an estimate for the catering service. Please let us know if you have any special requirements. Please circulate among your contacts/networks who might be interested on this.

Event_flyer_DiversityInCCs

To book your place online, please click here.

For more information, please contact us by email:publiclife@elrec.org.uk or Tel: 0131 556 0441

West Pilton West Granton Community Council meets on Tuesday

Please find attached the agenda for our next meeting, Tuesday 2nd August at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.

We are inviting Councillor Vicki Redpath as our Community Council’s Returning Officer to speak to us (Edinburgh’s community council elections take place this September).

Speakers will also be in attendance from the Housing Planning Department to present and outline the housing proposals for West Pilton Grove and Crewe Road Gardens.

Hope to see you there,

Barbara Robertson

WPWGCC Agenda 2nd Aug 16 Office Bearer election letter (1) 2016 Election Timetable

Election results: Edinburgh

Edinburgh results in full:

EDINBURGH CENTRAL

RUTH DAVIDSON (CON) 10, 399

Alison Dickie (SNP) 9789

Sarah Boyack (LAB) 7546

Alison Johnstone (GRN) 4644

Hannah Bettswoth (LD) 1672

Tom Laird (SLD) 119

Majority 610

CONSERVATIVE GAIN

EDINBURGH EASTERN

ASH DENHAM (SNP) 16,760

Kezia Dugdale (LAB) 11 673

Nick Cook (CON) 5 700

Cospatric D’Inverno (LD) 1 264

Majority 5087

Turnout 56.3%

SNP HOLD

EDINBURGH NORTHERN & LEITH

BEN MacPHERSON (SNP) 17,322

Lesley Hinds (LAB) 10 576

Iain McGill (CON) 6 781

Martin Veart (LD) 1779

Jack Caldwell (IND) 1344

Majority 6746

Turnout 55.2%%

SNP GAIN

EDINBURGH PENTLANDS

GORDON MacDONALD (SNP) 13, 181

Gordon Lindhurst (CON) 10 725

Blair Heary (LAB) 7 811

Emma Farthing-Sykes (LD) 1 636

Majority 2456

Turnout 60.4%

SNP HOLD

EDINBURGH SOUTHERN

DANIEL JOHNSON (LAB) 13, 597

Jim Eadie (SNP) 12 474

Miles Briggs (CON) 9 972

Pramod Subbaraman (LD) 2 216

Majority 1123

Turnout 64.2%

LABOUR GAIN

EDINBURGH WESTERN

ALEX COLE-HAMILTON (LD) 16, 645

Toni Giugliano (SNP) 13 685

Sandy Batho (CON) 5 686

Cat Headley (LAB) 3 750

Majority 2960

Turnout 64.5%

LIB DEM GAIN

LOTHIAN LIST MSPs (7)

Jeremy Balfour (Con)

Miles Briggs (Con)

Kezia Dugdale (Lab)

Neil Findlay (Lab)

Alison Johnstone (Grn)

Gordon Lindhurst (Con)

Andy Wightman (Grn)

6am Election Update

State of the Parties at 6am

SNP 57 (+ 6)

CON 6 (+4)

LD 4 (+ 2)

LAB 3 (-12)

Three constituencies still to declare. SNP needs 65 seats for an absolute majority.

First of the List Votes counts to be declared shortly

MAIN POINTS

SNP on course for historic third victory
Absolute majority still in the balance
Lib Dems take Edinburgh West
Party leaders Willie Rennie, Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson win their constituency seats but Kezia Dugdale loses out in Edinburgh Eastern.
Jackie Baillie and Iain Gray hold on to their seats and Daniel Johnstone wins Edinburgh Southern the only highlights on a bad night for Labour, who are wiped out in Glasgow

SNP landslide looking likely

No results declared yet, but it’s looking clear cut – Nicola Sturgeon will be back as First Minister with a majority.

As predicted, Lib Dems looking good to win back Edinburgh Western.

It’s looking like a bleak night for Labour …

more in the morning

And now … the only poll that counts

SNP landslide predicted

The polls have closed. The exhausted candidates and their campaign teams have done all they can. They’ll fret and wonder if they’ve done enough. Could we have chapped more doors? Delivered more leaflets? Attended more events? It’s too late now – the polls have closed, and the voters have made their minds up. Continue reading And now … the only poll that counts

Ballots not Bingo at Millennium Centre!

Due to Muirhouse Millennium Centre being a main venue for voters during all elections bingo has been cancelled this month. Next session will be advertised on our Facebook page and N.E.N website, and we hope to see you all soon, especially as he weather gets a a bit kinder to us!

James McGinty

City counts down to Holyrood election

With less than a week to go until the Scottish Parliament Election 2016, Edinburgh is gearing up to run its own part in the vote. Preparations are already well underway across the city’s polling places and count venue, while training is in progress for staff working on the day and the first postal votes are being processed.

Continue reading City counts down to Holyrood election

Holyrood hustings at Blackhall tomorrow

Craigleith Blackhall Community Council are hosting a Scottish Parliament hustings event at St Columba’s church main hall tomorrow ( Thursday 28 April) from 7.30 to 9pm. Continue reading Holyrood hustings at Blackhall tomorrow

Holyrood 2016: factfile

The Scottish Parliament elections take place on Thursday 5 May – one week to go! See below for all the information you could ever wish for!

Your local constituency candidates are:

EDINBURGH CENTRAL

BETTSWORTH, Hannah (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

BOYACK, Sarah (Scottish Labour Party)

DAVIDSON, Ruth (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

DICKIE, Alison (Scottish National Party (SNP))

JOHNSTONE, Alison (Scottish Green Party)

LAIRD, Tom (Scottish Libertarian Party)

EDINBURGH NORTHERN & LEITH

CALDWELL, Jack (Independent)

HINDS, Lesley (Scottish Labour Party)

MACPHERSON, Ben (Scottish National Party (SNP))

MCGILL, Iain (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

VEART, Martin (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

Jack Caldwell Independent

Lesley Hinds Labour Party

Ben Macpherson Scottish National Party (SNP)

Iain McGill Conservative and Unionist Party

Martin Veart Liberal Democrats

EDINBURGH WESTERN

BATHO, Sandy (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

COLE-HAMILTON, Alex (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

GIUGLIANO, Toni (Scottish National Party (SNP))

HEADLEY, Cat (Scottish Labour Party)

Other Edinburgh Constituencies:

Edinburgh Eastern

COOK, Nick (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

DENHAM, Ash (Scottish National Party (SNP))

D’INVERNO, Cospatric (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

DUGDALE, Kezia (Scottish Labour Party)

Edinburgh Pentlands

FARTHING-SYKES, Emma (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

HEARY, Blair (Scottish Labour Party)

LINDHURST, Gordon (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

MACDONALD, Gordon (Scottish National Party (SNP)

Edinburgh Southern

BRIGGS, Miles (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

EADIE, Jim (Scottish National Party (SNP))

JOHNSON, Daniel (Scottish Labour Party)

SUBBARAMAN, Pramod (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

LIST VOTE

The names of the parties for the Lothian Region are listed below in the order that they appear on the ballot paper.

Seven candidates will be elected to the Lothian Region as Members of the Scottish Parliament, from the following list:

RISE – Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Scottish Green Party

Scottish Labour Party

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Scottish Women’s Equality Party

Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement

UK Independence Party (UKIP)

THE VOTING SYSTEM

The Additional Member System (AMS) is used to elect members to the Scottish Parliament.

How it works:

There are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)

There are two ways an MSP can be elected.

Each elector (voter) has two votes.

Scotland is divided into 73 constituencies and each constituency elects one MSP. These are known as constituency MSPs and are elected by ‘first past the post’ in exactly the same way as MPs are elected to Westminster. This is the elector’s constituency vote.

The regional vote is used to elect 56 additional members. Scotland is divided into 8 parliamentary Regions and each region elects seven regional MSPs.

In the second vote the voter votes for a party rather than a candidate. The parties are then allocated a number of additional members to make the overall result more proportional. The regional MSPs are selected from lists compiled by the parties. These MSPs are also sometimes referred to as List MSPs.

HOW DO I VOTE?

Always read the instructions for filling in the ballot papers carefully, even if you have voted before.

You will receive two ballot papers.

On the lilac coloured ballot paper you will vote for your constituency MSP. The ballot paper lists the name of each candidate along with their party name and party logo.

Simply put a cross (X) next to the one candidate that you wish to vote for.

On the peach coloured ballot paper you vote for a party or independent candidate competing for the seven regional seats for your region of Scotland. The ballot paper lists political parties and independent candidates.

Simply put a cross (X) next to the one party or independent candidate that you wish to vote for.

If you make a mistake then you can ask the polling staff to give you another ballot paper.

WHERE DO I VOTE?

Your polling place will be noted on your Poll Card, or you can check it online. You should go to your polling place to vote on 5 May, between 7am and 10pm.

Find your polling station