Who will be Labour's Choice?

I see that a number of hopefuls have thrown their hats into the ring to be Labour's candidate for the Westminister by-election following the untimely death of our MP David Cairns.

While the shortlist from which Party members will choose from will not be known until Thursday I am hopeful that my Council colleague Iain McKenzie will be on it.

If he is, I will certainly be giving my support to Iain.

Over the last 8 years Iain has been one of the most hard working and able members of the Council. He is a first class ward Councillor and I am sure is more than capable of making the step up to being a member of parliament.

Iain has been a central part of the strong Labour team on the Council that has delivered for communities across Inverclyde in the last 4 years. In my opinion he would be a worthy successor to David.

That is not to say that we will be taking anything for granted. No matter who the Labour Candidate is we will face a tough battle to retain the seat.

A difficult decision...

Following the recent untimely death of my colleague David Cairns I have been approached by a number of people encouraging me to seek selection as Labour's candidate for the impending by-election.

After much thought, I have decided against putting my name forward. This was a difficult decision but I know that it is the right one.

The main reason for my decision is that I do not want to spend 3 or 4 days a week in London away from my family. My kids are still too young for me to contemplate this.

I will however be seeking re-selection as a Labour candidate for next year's Council elections as I feel that I still have a contribution to make to the community.

The local party will choose our candidate for the by-election at a special meeting next Saturday.

The week ahead...

Monday
Public holiday from work with no Council commitments.
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I hope to be able to attend a meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council.
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow.
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting of the Planning Board
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day. In the evening I am due to attend a meeting of the Kilmacolm New Community Centre Board.
Friday
Another full day at work, with no evening Council commitments.

The wow factor...

I had my first look around the new Notre Dame High School in Greenock tonight and was extremely impressed by what I saw. The school certainly has the wow factor.

I am only sorry that my colleague David Cairns, who passed away recently, is not here to see the fantastic new building that our Labour-led Council has provided for his old school. He would have been so pleased.

Clune Park update...

I chaired a meeting of the Clune Park Regeneration Task Group tonight where the draft regeneration plan to be considered by the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee tomorrow was presented.

Residents' representatives on the Task Group were generally supportive of the plan but, not surprisingly, frustrated by the five-year time frame. They acknowledged however that the scale of the challenge means that even if funding is forthcoming from the Scottish Government the plan will take a number of years to deliver.

Assuming that the plan is approved by the Committee tomorrow it will be submitted to the Scottish Government before the end of the month. Hopefully there will be a positive response from the Government.

The Task Group agreed to invite the new Housing Minister Keith Brown to the area in August to see the challenges we face it first hand.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work during the day. In the evening I am due to Chair a meeting of the Clune Park Regeneration Task Group.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
1.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
2.00 Special meeting of the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee
3.00 Meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
Thursday
At work all day. In the evening I will be attending a meeting of Inverclyde Constituency Labour Party, the first since the untimely death of our colleague David Cairns.
Friday
Public holiday from work

Saying goodbye...

I was pleased to see such a large turnout at the funeral of my Labour colleague David Cairns today from across the political spectrum. It showed the very high regard in which David was held.

He is a huge loss to the Labour Party and the Inverclyde community.He will be sorely missed.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments following the postponement of the Woodhall Task Group
Tuesday
At work until 3.00 before leaving to go to Greenock for the Annual General Meeting of the Peter Stanton Memorial Trust. No evening Council commitments.
Wednesday
At work until 2.00 before picking up my kids from school. Attending the weekly meetings of the Administration Group at 4.30 and Labour Group at 5.30. I hope also to attend the Newark Primary School Parent Council at 6.45.
Thursday
At work all day with no evening Council commitments.
Friday
Attending the Funeral of my Labour colleague David Cairns.

Welcome for bowling plan...

A proposal to re-open Inverclyde's indoor bowling centre has been agreed by the Council’s Regeneration Committee, of which I am the Vice-Convener.

Inverclyde Leisure will be appointed to manage the Port Glasgow Road building and, providing at least 260 bowling members register by June 2011, the Council will carry out refurbishment work at a cost of up to £150,000 on the building to allow it to re-open.

In February Inverclyde Indoor Bowling Ltd decided to cease trading and hand back the building to the Council because of falling membership and increasing costs.

The Council carried out a feasibility study to determine what options were available to provide sustainable indoor bowling facilities, with the preferred option being to appoint Inverclyde Leisure to manage the existing facility.

When Council Leader I took a close interest in this matter and I am therefore pleased that we have been able to come up with a plan that that could lead to the re-opening of the indoor bowling centre. With good will on all sides I am confident that the Council, Inverclyde Leisure and the bowling community can establish a successful partnership that can provide a sustainable future for the sport in Inverclyde.

A meeting for prospective members will be held at the Inverclyde Indoor Centre at 10 a.m. on Saturday 21^st May 2011.

Labour Group Annual General Meeting...

The Inverclyde Council Labour Group held its annual general meeting tonight.

At the start of the meeting members stood for a minutes silence as a mark of respect for our colleague David Cairns MP who passed away earlier this week.

In his report the Group Chair Joe McIlwee looked back on another successful year for the group, highlighting the continuing progress with our exciting school estate strategy, major investment in sports pitches and play areas and the establishment of the Inverclyde Community Health and Care Partnership. He also welcomed the way that the group had managed the Council's budget process at a very challenging time and the change of leadership and formation of a new coalition.

Iain McKenzie was unanimously re-appointed as Group Leader and Jim Clocherty as Depute Leader.

Joe McIlwee was appointed Chair, Gerry Dorrian Vice Chair and Robert Moran Treasurer. Yours truly was reappointed as Group Secretary and Whip.

Exciting times...

I attended a presentation this afternoon by the architects designing the new St Columba's High School and the new shared campus in Port Glasgow and was very impressed by what I saw.

Immediately afterwards I attended a meeting of the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee where we were given details of the major schools projects over the coming year or so.

Our two new PPP secondary schools - Notre Dame High School and Clydeview Academy - are nearing completion and will open next month.

Two major primary school refurbishments are currently underway - the former Earnhill Primary School for the new St Andrew's Primary School and Overton for the merged school from Overton and Highlanders Academy. St Andrew's should open in September of this year and Overton should be completed in summer 2012.

Work should start on the new shared campus in August of this year and on the new St Columba's in October.

Work should start in July of this year on the £1.3m refurbishment of the Binnie Street Community Centre in Gourock to create a new children's centre.

Work should also start in late 2011 on the £2.2m refurbishment of the former St Laurence's Primary School to replace the Mearns Centre for young people with challenging behaviour.

Exciting times indeed for education in Inverclyde.

David Cairns MP...

I was deeply saddened to learn today of the death of my Labour colleague David Cairns, who had been seriously ill for the last 2 months.

David was a fine man and a first class MP. He cared deeply about social justice and for our community of Inverclyde. He will be sadly missed by all his friends and colleagues in the Inverclyde Labour Party. Team Labour has lost its star player.

My thoughts and prayers are with David's family at this sad time.

'The World of Work'...

I spoke to over 70 Primary 6 and 7 pupils of St Michael's Primary School in Port Glasgow this afternoon about my experiences of work as part of the school's 'World of Work' week. As a former pupil I am always pleased to go back to my old school.

Hopefully the young people found my talk informative. I certainly found their questions challenging but thoroughly enjoyed my chat with them.

Another former pupil taking part this week is Gordon Matheson, the current Leader of Glasgow City Council, who spent his formative years in Port Glasgow.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work for a short time in the morning as I have a funeral to attend. In the afternoon I am speaking to primary 7 pupils in St Michael's Primary School about 'The World of Work'.

In the evening I have a surgery at 6.00 in Park Farm Community Hall followed by a choice of St Francis and Kilmacolm Primary School Parent Councils.

Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Briefing for the members of the Education Committee on the designs for the new shared campus and St Columba's High School
4.00 Meeting of the Education & Lifelong Learning Committee
7.00 Meeting of the Three Wards Community Council

Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group

7.00 Mass to mark the 50th anniversary of St Stephen's High School

Thursday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting of the Regeneration Committee

Friday
At work all day with no Council commitments

UK votes No to AV...

In another crushing blow for Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg the UK has voted No to AV.

Mr Clegg's arrogance was his own downfall.

He was warned not to hold the referendum yesterday but he knew better.

As a result there was no proper debate on the merits or otherwise of AV and I am sure that many people decided to vote No because they did not really understand the proposed new system. Standing at the polling station yesterday it was clear that voters in Scotland already faced with the complications of two ballot papers for the Scottish Parliament did not fancy yet another voting system.

Time for Clegg to consider his position?

SNP landslide...

Congratulations to the SNP on their historic landslide election victory.

Clearly a hugely disappointing result for the Labour Party. While our vote held up well in many constituencies - including in Greenock and Inverclyde - voters of other parties switched in their droves to the SNP.

The SNP now have a mandate to put the constitutional question to the people and the sooner they do that the better. They already have a bill on the shelf and have completed their National Conversation.

Those voters who switched to the SNP yesterday did so full in the knowledge that the SNP intended to bring forward a referendum bill if they won the election. Given the size of the SNP mandate there is no reason to wait for another two or three years. As the former Scottish Labour Leader Wendy Alexander once said: "bring it on"!

Congratulations to my colleague Duncan McNeil on holding Greenock and Inverclyde for Labour. Commiserations to Stuart Clark, our excellent candidate on Renfrewshire North and West, who fought a very good campaign but lost out due to the national swing to the SNP.

Such was the scale of the SNP victory even Stuart McMillan - who had been written off, including by many in his own party - won a list seat at the expense of local Lib Dem Ross Finnie.

It certainly was a very bad night for the Labour Party but it was a catastrophic night for the Lib Dems.

I wonder if Ross still thinks going into a coalition with the Tories in Westminster was the right thing to do in hindsight?

What now for the Lib Dems in Inverclyde?

Only 3 councillors when they previously had 13; now in fourth place behind the Tories; and no MSP!

We of course need to learn lessons from last night's results.

There will be those who think that the swing to the SNP could be repeated at next year's Council elections.

While I am far from complacent, I believe that, like the SNP in Holyrood, Labour in Inverclyde has demonstrated in the last four years that we are a very competent administration and that we have delivered for our communities. We can also take some comfort from the fact that Alex Salmond won't be offering himself as the Leader of Inverclyde Council!

That having been said: the campaign starts now.

The choice is clear...

The choice for the people of Scotland tomorrow is clear.

It is a choice between Labour's plan for jobs and the SNP's plan to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK.

If you want independence then vote SNP.

If you want Scotland to remain part of the UK vote Labour.

It is that simple.

Major investment in play areas approved...

The Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee this afternoon approved a further investment of £350,000 in play facilities across Inverclyde:

• Weir Street, Greenock £25,000
• Lauriston Park, Greenock £25,000
• Wemyss Bay Community Centre £75,000
• Hay Street, Greenock £25,000
• Boglestone, Port Glasgow (new facility on site next to community centre) £75,000 (total funding now £182,000)
• Larkfield/Braeside (new facility on site to be identified) £25,000 (total funding now £100,000)
• West Glen Park, Kilmacolm £25,000
• Watt Street, Greenock £25,000
• Lady Alice, Greenock £25,000
• Coronation Park, Port Glasgow £25,000.

As a Ward 1 Councillor I am particularly pleased by the funding allocated for Boglestone and West Glen Road.

The week ahead...

Monday
On holiday from work but spending most of the day campaigning. In the morning I will be leafleting in Port Glasgow for our candidate Duncan McNeil and in the afternoon door knocking in Kilmacolm with our candidate Stuart Clark. If I have any energy left I will go back out again at night.
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Greenock
3.00 Meeting of the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee
In the evening I will be back on the campaign trail.
Wednesday
At work until 2.00 and then picking the kids up from school before going out campaigning later.
Thursday
Election Day - I have taken a holiday from work and will be out campaigning from early morning until the polls close at 10.00
Friday
At work all day, although when I start will depend on when I get to bed!