Scottish By-elections

[Finlay_A]

I'm making a thread for keeping track of upcoming by-elections in Scotland. Most other regions have one, and it's good to keep these in one thread. I'll update the OP with new developments.

Upcoming By-elections

• Argyll & Bute Council - Oban North & Lorn Ward
  Date TBA

Council by-elections are great to contest since they don't require the deposit and time commitments of parliamentary elections, but can be just as good a chance to gain valuable experience and get the Pirate message out there.

[Finlay_A]

Despite the best efforts of Miah, Andrew P, John B and myself, we didn't manage to get our nomination forms in for the Paisley South by-election. The RO couldn't accept scanned party nomination forms, and we couldn't find Andrew P's copy, despite tearing his house apart, so unfortunately we missed this one, which is a shame because it would've been good and I was looking forward to contesting it.

There is a lesson here, with council elections the date is given with very short notice to get someone nominated. We shouldn't beat ourselves up about this, the RO told us that one of the big parties had had the exact same problem the same day. In future, we should get our candidate in place and the party nomination in place while the date is still TBA. That way when they announce it and I only know the deadline a couple of days before we can still make it.

So for Aberdeen, we should get a candidate in place ASAP and then I can ask for the party nomination forms, and we don't have to miss it, if we are in fact going to contest. I know it's a bit out of the way, but it is good even just to run a paper candidate/minimal campaign, because it won't cost anything.

EDIT: we may also get a by-election in the Bridge of Don ward too! Apparently a Lib-Dem councillor is being investigated for prostitution-related offences. Those Lib-Dems just can't seem to keep it in their pants lol

[mace]

There is a lesson here

You mean the lesson isn't to make sure the prospective candidate has a car?

[Finlay_A]

There are a couple of upcoming by-elections, I've updated the OP. The Aberdeen one might be worth contesting, since we seem to have a couple of members up there, and it was a strong Lib-Dem ward (at least, it was in '07).

[PlanetNiles]

I could give Aberdeen a go Finlay. My big concern is that we seem to *only* have a couple of members up here.

My slightly smaller concern is that I feel somewhat under skilled for the task. But then some days I feel unskilled in getting out of bed so that just could be my currently low self esteem talking.

[cabalamat]

I could give Aberdeen a go Finlay. My big concern is that we seem to *only* have a couple of members up here.

When I stood in Edinburgh last year, I only had one other Edinburgh Pirate helping me, and I achieved what was at the time our best result so far. So you don't need a lot of people on the ground to campaign.

Also, bear in mind that wards in Aberdeen are about half the size the are in Edinburgh, which means fewer letterboxes to put leaflets through!

My slightly smaller concern is that I feel somewhat under skilled for the task.

As far as I know, none of the Pirate candidates who've so far stood had campaigned for election before they joined the party. If you don't have much experience: good, it means you can learn more!

[ajehals]

I could give Aberdeen a go Finlay. My big concern is that we seem to *only* have a couple of members up here.

Which by-election are we talking about here? The only one I can find for Aberdeen appears to have been today.. In which case it might be a little late. It would however be really good to talk to those other members and see if you can build a start on a potential campaign for the next round of elections.

[Finlay_A]

There were actually 3 Aberdeen by-elections in quick succession. Check britain-votes or aberdeen city council website. Also, I update the OP on this thread, and it's up to date now

[PlanetNiles]

Well due to the popular opinion of citizens of the burgh and those near and dear to me I've decided to stand.

[cabalamat]

Well due to the popular opinion of citizens of the burgh and those near and dear to me I've decided to stand.

Good for you. Hope you win!