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| Constituency : |
Argyll and Bute |
| Current MSP : |
Jim Mather |
| Current Party : |
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| Majority 2007 (%) : |
2.83 |
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| 2007 Results: |
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Candidate |
Votes |
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% change from '03 |
| Jim Mather | 9944 | 34.54 | +14.91 |
 | George Lyon | 9129 | 31.71 | -3.42 |
 | Jamie McGrigor | 5571 | 19.35 | -0.76 |
 | Mary Galbraith | 4148 | 14.41 | -3.86 |
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| Winnability |
| Swing req for LIB gain | 1.42% | | LIB winability* | 1 | | Swing req for CON gain | 7.59% | | CON winability* | 8 | | Swing req for LAB gain | 10.07% | | LAB winability* | 19 |
| * This is the rank of each seat according to marginality by party |
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Argyll and Bute
Candidate Profiles |
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Jim Mather MSP
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George Lyon
George Lyon was born in 1956 in Rothesay.
Mr Lyon was previously a self-employed farmer, and also Vice-President, then President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland.
When first elected Lyon had a slim majority of around 2000 votes in the first parliament. However, when he was re-elected in the 2003 election, he managed to increase the Lib Dem share of the vote and double his majority.
In the first parliament, Mr Lyon was convener of the Lib Dem parliamentary group. At the start of the second term he was party spokesman on agriculture and rural affairs.
Following Nicol Stephen's election as party leader and succession as Deputy First Minister, Lyon was appointed Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform in 2005.
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Jamie McGrigor
James has been an MSP since 1999. Born in London in 1949, McGrigor attended Eton College. He has previously worked in shipping and also as a stockbroker.
In his first term Jamie sat on the Rural Development Committee and held the position of Scottish Conservative Deputy Spokesperson on Rural Affairs with special responsibility for fisheries. In the second parliamentary term, he was a member of the Procedures Committee and a substitute member for the Equal Opportunities Committee.
Mr McGrigor is also Scottish Conservative Spokesperson on Tourism, Culture and Sport.
James also runs a cattle and sheep farm on Loch Aweside, Argyll.
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Mary Galbraith
Hailing from Kintyre, Mary Galbraith is a local Labour party campaigner. Ms Galbraith is a new candidate for this constituency seat.
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Constituency Comments
Let everyone know how the party campaigns are going locally. Using the form below you can add your comments about the candidates, their chances of election and how well they are campaigning on the ground.
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| Posted Comments |
I had been hoping for an increase in the Conservative share of the vote, but a tiny decrease shows at least they have retained most of their support. This provides the SNP with another western Scottish seat which will nicely accompany the Western Isles.
Posted by Philip on 16/10/2007
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Delighted that Lyon has been ousted in A&B. He proved to be one of the most negative, and most nasty, of MSP's with the way he behaved during tributes to Mrs Ewing, and other issues. The man is a brute and now looking for another job - there is justice. Bye bye Lyon.
Posted by John on 6/5/2007
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born and bred in this contituency although at present living outside it can i add my tuppenceworth george lyon zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry i fell asleep which I often do trying to listen to him labour are not even going to try here why should they when they have already got george and the rest of the lib dems in their pocket Vote Labour Get Labour vote LYON get Labour get the message But just heard Jim Mather talk.. god you couldnt fall asleep with him around so interesting so many facts and clever with it. I know who i would vote for without a doubt Mather every time best of luck Jim
Posted by Gordon on 19/4/2007
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born and bred in this contituency although at present living outside it can i add my tuppenceworth george lyon zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry i fell asleep which I often do trying to listen to him labour are not even going to try here why should they when they have already got george and the rest of the lib dems in their pocket Vote Labour Get Labour vote LYON get Labour get the message But just heard Jim Mather talk.. god you couldnt fall asleep with him around so interesting so many facts and clever with it. I know who i would vote for without a doubt Mather every time best of luck Jim
Posted by Gordon on 18/4/2007
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Jim Mather has been a list MSP for the Highlands & Islands for four years but he is an impressive campaigner with a prodigious workrate. As Enterprise spokesman he has raised the profile of the party in boardrooms across the country with his challenging presentations of the case for Independence.The fruits of that work are now seen to be recognised with increasing numbers of the business community indicating support for the party. Jim has also campaigned strongly for a much more positive attitude to transport policy as the lynch pin of any successful economy, particularly one based on the West Highlands depends on good ferry links at affordable prices and roads that are "fit for purpose" -hardly a description of the A82, our lifeline trunk road. Jim has been highly critical of the disastrous and expensive Tendering exercise for West Coast ferries that has produced, as he predicted, no result other than the waste of £15m The link between a LibDem junior minister representing Argyll & Bute and successive LibDem Transport Ministers failing to deliver improvement is a lesson for us all. The Ballycastle Ferry fiasco is another non event to be held at George Lyon's door and his inability to protect and improve CalMac's Cowal ferry service means that he is persona non grata in Dunoon. Jim Mather has also campaigned vigorously to retain Scottish Water in the public sector and to improve its oerformance and the conditions in which it operates so that water users and development are not handicapped. Lyon's stint as Deputy Finance Minister has hardly caused a ruffle in the presently depressed state of his constituency where the local authority has insufficient finance to deliver Care for the Elderly and the Roads Department budgets to spend 1/10 of what is required to maintain its road network.
Posted by Seannair on 5/4/2007
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