The battleground for the 2007 election will be in Scotland’s most marginal seats. Due to the 4 party split in Scotland, there are quite a number of seats that could change hands with a fairly small swing. For example, Labour would lose Cumbernauld and Kilsyth to the SNP with just over a 1% swing and Nicola Sturgeon only requires a 3% swing for her to take Govan for the SNP.
The list to the right highlights the top 15 most vulnerable seats. There are a number of seats in this table where the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives will have to work hard to maintain their gains at the last election. However, and crucially in terms of any potential change of government, there are a number of seats where Labour are at risk of losing, principally to the SNP with a fairly small swing.
The selection of these 15 seats is based purely on the result of the last election and the low percentage swing required for a change of MSP.
You'll need the Flash 7 Player (or later) to see this webpage: download it here...
Then refresh/reload this page.
Mary Mulligan MSP
Mary was born in Liverpool in 1960 and entered the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
In the first Parliament she was Parliamentary secretary to the then First Minister Henry McLeish (2000-01) before becoming Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (2003-04). More recently she has served as Deputy Minister for Communities (2003-04).
Before entering the Scottish Parliament Mary was a Councillor in Stenhouse for Edinburgh District Council in 1988 and 1992. She also stood as Councillor in Moat for Edinburgh City Council in 1995.
Swing required: 1.94%
Fiona Hyslop
Fiona has been a List MSP for the Lothian's since 1999; Fiona has participated in the Scottish Parliament by being a member of both the Education and Enterprise committees.
She is curently shadow Minister for Education, Young People and Life Long Learning.
In conjunction with her Shadow Ministerial and Committee responsibilities she is a member of the cross party Groups tackling issues such as; cancer, children, and young people.
Before entering the Scottish Parliament in 1999 she was employed by the Standard Life Assurance Company (1986-99). She joined the SNP in 1986 and is a member of the SNP National Executive Committee.
Swing required: 16.18%
Donald Cameron Donald Cameron was born in 1976 and is originally from Lochaber in the Highlands. He studied at Oxford University and now lives in Edinburgh. He works in the Lothians and across Scotland as an Advocate, practising in a number of different legal areas. He was selected as the Scottish Conservative candidate for Linlithgow in May 2006.
Swing required: 17.69%
Martin Oliver _
Parties Key Target Seats
Each of the parties will have decided on their own key target seats. The tables below are based purely on the percentage swing required to take the seat. Each of the parties will have decided their own key targets on the basis of swing required, local canvas return information and local intelligence.
In addition the SNP see Gordon as a key target seat. Despite being in third place and 15% behind the Liberal Democrats, the fact that Alex Salmond is standing in this seat and the effort that the SNP will put into winning Gordon makes this a real possibility for them.
