General election 2024: All you need to know about the contest in Lothian East

Kenny MacAskill won the East Lothian seat for the SNP at the last general election, but then defected to Alex Salmond’s Alba party when it was launched at the time of the 2021 Holyrood elections. And now he is standing Alba’s candidate in the new Alloa and Grangemouth seat, where the party is campaigning for the refinery to stay open.

The renamed Lothian East constituency - which no longer includes most of Musselburgh - is one of Labour’s top target seats in Scotland at this election - and the party has chosen former Cabinet minister Douglas Alexander as its candidate.

Lyn Jardine is standing for the SNP in Lothian East, while Douglas Alexander is the Labour candidate | collage

He says he and his team have been knocking on doors and campaigning for the last 15 months. And he’s clear about the issues concerning people and the political mood.

“The two most commonly raised issues on the doorstep are the NHS, where one in six of us in Scotland are on waiting lists at the moment, and the cost of living - people are still paying the price for Liz Truss’s crashing of the economy, they’re watching their food bills go up and their fuel bills go up.”

But he says there are quite distinct feelings among voters towards the UK and Scottish governments. “There is a lot of anger towards the Conservative government and a lot of sadness towards the SNP government - a lot of SNP voters feel really scunnered, they feel they placed a lot of hope and expectation in the Scottish Government, but whether it’s health or education or ferries they feel very let down.

“I’m quietly encouraged by the responses we’re getting. I think in a quiet, very Scottish way people are determined to vote for change on Thursday. I think people feel both beaten up and beaten down by their experience of politics in the last 10 years or so and I think they are quite keen to change the channel and get something new from politics - and Labour’s well-placed in terms of a commitment to GB Energy, a commitment to extra appointments in the NHS with the extra investment we would secure by closing the loophole on non-doms, and by other practical policies like that.

“My sense is there is an almost imprisoning cynicism towards politics, politicians and government as a consequence of what people have experienced in recent years. So we’re working on the doorsteps with a sense of hope but also with a sense of humility and commitment to hard work to try and pierce that cynicism and convince people that voting can actually make a difference.”

Before he lost his seat in 2015, Mr Alexander was MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South and, although he now lives in East Lothian, some have criticised his lack of local connections. But he says he is confident he will have met more East Lothian electors during the campaign than any of his opponents. “Ultimately, on Thursday, the people of East Lothian will reach a judgement on who they want to be a strong voice for them in parliament and I respectfully hope they choose myself and Scottish Labour.”

The SNP’s candidate is Lyn Jardine, leader of the opposition on East Lothian Council and a councillor for Dunbar and East Linton since 2022. She was chosen just a few weeks ago after the previous candidate, Iain Whyte, withdrew because of ill health.

She says the SNP’s support in the seat is “broadly solid”. But she adds: “The thing that strikes me most is that people are more apathetic about politics and politicians in general and they're looking for something radically different. They're looking for someone to represent them and stand up and make the case for their part of the world and the issues that matter most to them.

“I think people are quite frustrated that a lot of these issues are not being discussed.  In East Lohian, what's happened around Brexit has had a massive impact - fishing, farming, some of the manufacturing industry here are all quite badly affected by the impact of Brexit. But nobody is talking about it. Our message around our strong stance on a real desire to get back into Europe is getting across quite well.”

Cllr Jardine says people are concerned about matters like the two-child benefit cap and many see independence as a route to social justice. “A lot will depend on whether Labour do make any changes from their manifesto commitments which have maybe not been bold enough.”

She also talks about the need for “a local voice that really understands what the issues are”. “Douglas can be briefed by his local Labour colleagues, but that doesn't detract from the fact he's not been here.” Cllr Jardine moved to East Lothian from Aberdeenshire 16 years ago. She has a background as a housibg professional and is now head of office for the area’s MSP, Paul McLennan.

Taking up the Alba standard after Mr MacAskill is another former MP for the seat, George Kerevan, who was SNP MP for East Lothian, 2015-17. “I love East Lothian,” he says. “It's great to be out and about meeting people; it's still to me the most beautiful part of Scotland.

And he argues his candidacy will not harm the SNP’s chances. "There's around 50 per cent of people in the polls say they will support independence, around 30 per cent will vote SNP, so there's 20 per cent or so who are not going to vote SNP but support independence - that's my target. I'm not going after he SNP, I'm going after the independence supporters who are likely to sit this election out or might defect to Labour."  

Tory candidate Scott Hamilton is focusing on local issues and points to concern about the council’s desire to introduce parking charges on the high streets in Dunbar and North Berwick despite the idea being rejected in a previous consultation.

“The continued push by the council is very worrying for the businesses there but also for residents. They are trying to keep their high streets going, yet it looks like the council wants to make it easier just to go to Tesco and these other major stores rather than support the high street. People are feeling very unlistened  to.”

Mr Hamilton runs the family farm in the Borders and is deputy leader of the council there.

Lib Dem Duncan Dunlop was chief executive of the charity Who Cares? Scotland and has over 25 years’ experience of working with vulnerable young people in the UK and abroad. But he says despite “warm words” there has been too little action by politicians in reforming the care system.

And he claims there is “a lot of disquiet” about Mr Alexander being Labour’s candidate when he “has nothing to do with East Lothian”. After living and working abroad, Mr Dunlop moved back to Scotland in 008 and has lived in Dunbar since 2019.

Green candidate Shona McIntosh. who works for Edinburgh Napier University on a project supporting care-experienced learners, wants a more ambitious net zero target in East Lothian, better public transport and natural flood defences rather than concrete walls.

Reform UK’s Robert Davies wants to scrap net zero policies and advocates use of UK gas, oil, fracking, coal and nuclear power

Candidates

Douglas Alexander - Labour and Co-operative Party

Robert Davies - Reform UK 

Duncan Dunlop - Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scott Hamilton - Scottish Conservative and Unionist

Lyn Jardine - Scottish National Party (SNP)

George Kerevan - Alba Party: Yes to Scottish Independence 

Shona McIntosh - Scottish Greens

2019 result

Kenny MacAskill SNP 21,156 36.2 per cent

Martin Whitfield Lab 17,270 29.5 per cent

Craig Hoy Con 15,523 26.5 per cent

Robert O'Riordan Lib Dem 4,071 7.0 per cent

David Sisson Ukip 493 0.8 per cent

SNP majority 3,886

Turnout 71.7 per cent