TWEEDDALE, ETTRICK AND LAUDERDALE

Derek Brownlee:
Scottish Conservative and Unionist



We can make the Borders a better place to live in.
We can tackle crime if we put more police on the streets, we can provide more affordable housing to allow more people to stay in the area, and we can have better, safer roads.
All of these things, however, need a new approach from government.
For the past eight years, local Liberal Democrat MSPs have kept Labour in power and they are as much to blame for the failures in services, such as NHS dentistry, as Labour.
Now it seems they might even keep the Scottish National Party in power, given half a chance. Having been raised and educated in the Borders, and having served for the last 20 months as a regional MSP for the area, I know the challenges we face and I believe I can offer a better approach than we have seen from the Lib-Lab pact.
At the last election I came within a whisker of winning this seat.
Since then, at the UK General Election, the Conservative vote increased in every part of the constituency. Conservatives can win this seat and offer a new direction for the Borders, without the risks offered by the SNP.

Catherine Maxwell Stuart:
Scottish Labour Party



I have lived and worked in the Borders for most of my life.
As well as running the business at Traquair House, I have held positions in a wide variety of local and national organisations promoting tourism, heritage, events, the arts and regenerating the rural economy in the south of Scotland.
I am passionately committed to representing the Borders which I believe has become one of the most overlooked regions in Scotland. We need our politicians to fight for the recognition we deserve. My priorities will be to turn the Borders into a successful rural economy with better-paid jobs and end the scandal of having the lowest-paid workforce in Scotland.
Our children have the right to the best start in life and we deserve an outstanding education system. Our older people should be confident of support for their needs through improved access to public services. And we must tackle the issue of housing and ensure we have more good-quality affordable homes for local people.
I believe we should spend the next four years building up Scotland for the future and not risk uncertainty and constitutional wrangling which could lead us to breaking up Britain for good.

Christine Grahame:
Scottish National Party



I would like to thank all who voted for me in 2003, taking me within 538 votes of winning.
Since then, and over the past eight years, I hope I have worked to assist communities and individuals, particularly when under threat.
In the early days in 1999, I set up a group in parliament to campaign for the railway, fighting to the end for a station at Stow, education cuts, social work disasters, bus services, ambulance services, rural school closures, to post office closures, learning that the main post office in Galashiels is to close and business transferred to WH Smith. That must be resisted. All this in the eight years of Liberal Democrats and Labour in power together.
Eight years, and still the Borders has the lowest wages in Scotland, the roads have not been upgraded, rural schools have closed. It is time for a change. For a woman who will fight your corner without fear or favour. For a woman who has a track record of taking on the establishment. 538 votes is all that is required. Any other vote will be wasted as Labour and Conservative cannot win. 538 votes and you can be sure your voice will be heard in the council and parliament chambers.

Jeremy Purvis:
Scottish Liberal Democrats



It has been a privilege to serve the constituency for the last four years and, working with local communities, I have had some major successes.
Securing funding to double main bus services, lobbying successfully to fund 100 new affordable homes, funding for the Borders railway, a major boost to transform recycling rates, and setting up and chairing the successful campaign to retain the School of Textiles in the Borders are some of these successes. Recently, the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Borders campus was carried out by Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen.
I am pressing for smaller class sizes in our already good schools, a doubling of community police officers on the streets, more support for older and vulnerable people, and improving local roads, especially the A7 north of Galashiels and progressing a Selkirk bypass.
I have said the Borders should be self-sustainable in energy within 10 years and this is challenging, but if the 3,000 cases for individual constituents who have approached me, many in the over 250 advice surgeries I have held, show anything, it is that together, with support on May 3, we can meet the challenges.


ROXBURGHSHIRE AND BERWICKSHIRE

John Lamont:
Scottish Conservative and Unionist



During the last three years, I have knocked on over 20,000 doors to ask local people what they would like me to achieve for them in the Scottish Parliament.
Time and time again, I am struck by a real sense of frustration that the parliament is not doing more to solve the problems that everyone in the Borders faces on a daily basis.
Whether it be lack of jobs, the struggling textile industry, the cuts to the rural NHS, rising tax bills, ever-increasing burden of regulation on local business, lack of investment in our roads or the overstretched police force, I know that many people feel that the Scottish Parliament could be doing so much more for us. Living in the Borders, I also feel this frustration, particularly when we see so many decisions being taken which favour the Central Belt.
At a national level, we're witnessing a resurgence in support for nationalism. It's 300 years ago this year that the Union of Scotland and England was created.
However, with the Liberal Democrats discussing the possibility of a coalition with the SNP, I believe this may threaten Scotland's place in the Union. We must defend the Union more robustly than ever before.

Mary Lockhart:
Scottish Labour Party



I was born into the Labour and Co-operative movement in a three-bedroomed council house in a west Fife mining village.
My cot, baby food, first shoes and teething ring were bought from the Co-operative store; the local community centre was the Miners' Institute; the politics were Labour.
Scotland has changed beyond recognition, and there are new political parties, new images for the traditional ones. Only one party's very name reflects the people it champions, the working people of Scotland.
It is the only party whose principles and ideas are based on community and society, rather than on individual self-interest or single issues: Scottish Labour.
In Roxburgh and Berwickshire, working people know what they want – high-quality affordable housing to rent, buy or own co-operatively; a well-integrated public transport system, efficient and cheap enough to use for both work and leisure; a chance to be consulted and heeded on issues such as education and health care.
If elected, I will consult the hard-working people of Roxburgh and Berwickshire; work with them to turn ideas into strategy, words into deeds; and represent them truly and forcefully in the Scottish Parliament.

Aileen Orr:
Scottish National Party



May 3 is an important day for every voter. They have first the choice of using their vote, and then the choice of party they wish to see running Scotland.
Those who don't vote throw away their own right to make their own choices, and it seems ironic that so many people are dying to vote, yet so many Scots, especially women, don't think its valuable enough to use.
It's the one honest piece of freedom we have.
My opponents talk of a two-horse race, meaning a contest between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories. That is insulting to the voters.
But if their tactics were used on the racecourse, they would have a very hard job keeping up with the Scottish National Party.
Our strategy is to jump the fences, not refuse them, or indeed sit on them.
We also don't have to race with blinkers and weights, there is nothing lightweight about the SNP.
Gambling with your future is risky and unpredictable, so why return to the same old bet when it means consistently losing and no advancement in your fortunes?
Who wants to run in a two-horse race – not Alex Salmond, Aileen Orr or the voters in Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

Jesse Rae



I'm Jesse Rae and it would be a great honour to be elected.
I want to give the ordinary working man his say.
Kenny the coalman from Hawick: "We need industry here, but they keep driv'n it out and away. Somebody comes in and they put obstacles in their way. You're not allowed to dae this, yer not allowed to do that.
"Look at it doon at Gala. Asda and Tesco right next to each other. A lot of those small shops, they'll be away!
"At the end of the year they'll be gone! It'll just turn like in Hawick. Empty shops – too much of these big ones coming in."
And what about wee businesses, what would you like to see done for them, Kenny?
Kenny: "Ctt'n the rates or someth'n – cutt'n them by 50 per cent for wee shops that are local."
What else?
Kenny: "Look at the price of the houses an a'. The woman next tae me pays almost £70 a week for a three-bedroom house.
"They put the rent and rates up and say they'll put in new kitchens, doors and windows.
"The council was promising this before they sold it on and folk are still wait'n. So where does the money go?"
This is Jesse Rae for Roxburgh and Berwickshire inside out.

Euan Robson:
Scottish Liberal Democrats



Living in Kelso, using local schools, the transport system and the NHS, my family and I understand the issues facing the Borders.
Scottish Liberal Democrats are working for a strong, vibrant economy throughout Scotland.
We will allocate £60million to the regeneration of smaller town centres, double the small business rates relief scheme, retain, but re-focus Scottish Enterprise Borders and triple backing for research and development.
We will continue to invest in education and skills training, adding to the achievements of the last parliament, such as the new and refurbished schools in the Borders, and further and higher education developments.
Our plans for the NHS include faster diagnosis and more local provision such as 100 new community health centres, 2,000 more nurses and 200 more dentists. Locally, the new dental surgeries in Hawick and Coldstream will reduce the number of people without a dentist.
I particularly want to see a better deal for the voluntary sector and will campaign for a major boost for carers in the next parliament. Liberal Democrats will introduce a Future of Scotland Bill, focusing on the issues and aspirations of young people.
Do use your vote on May 3. Your support would be much appreciated.