Former No voter bids to become SNP candidate in Edinburgh Southern

Hopefuls line up for Capital seat
Michael Sturrock voted No in 2014Michael Sturrock voted No in 2014
Michael Sturrock voted No in 2014

A FORMER No voter who was converted to the cause of independence is bidding to stand for the SNP in Edinburgh Southern at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

Michael Sturrock, who works in public affairs, is staunchly pro-European and says he voted No in the 2014 independence referendum because of the claim by Better Together that the only way to ensure Scotland’s continued membership of the EU was to stay in the UK.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Brexit and growing levels of inequality left him “more and more disillusioned with the status quo” and he joined the SNP in October 2018.

He believes he could appeal to others who voted No in the referendum and persuade them to back the SNP.

He said: “The party and the movement in general, to be successful, is going to have to have voices that have come from the other side.

“We see from the opinion polls people moving to the Yes side, but I think it has to be demonstrated that it is a movement willing to move beyond anger or resentment towards the No side and throw open its arms to everyone so they can come over. I thought we really need candidates that are going to represent that feel to bring people over, so I wanted to do that.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Edinburgh Southern is currently represented by Labour’s Daniel Johnson, who had a majority of 1,123 at the last elections in 2016.

And the equivalent Westminster seat is held by Ian Murray, Scotland’s only Labour MP.

Mr Sturrock said: “Edinburgh Southern has been a unionist and Labour stronghold, but we now see 40 per cent of Labour voters in Scotland support independence, so I think there is a real opportunity to appeal to the core supporters in Edinburgh Southern and try to bring them across.”

Three other would-be candidates have already declared their interest in fighting the seat for the SNP - Catriona MacDonald, who was the candidate at last year’s general election; city education vice-convener Alison Dickie, who represents Southside/Newington on the council; and disabled campaigner Dylan Roberts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yesterday was due to be the deadline for hopefuls to put their names forward to become SNP candidates, but it is understood that has now been postponed until next Monday.

Mr Sturrock said he believed he had the right credentials to convince other people to follow him in moving from No to Yes.

He said: “I have real experience working on behalf of business with politicians across the political divide to make policies that modernise and grow our economy.

“From this I know the business argument for independence is stronger than ever. Undecided voters who believed No campaign’s economic scaremongering in 2014 are enraged by Boris Johnson’s hard-Brexit recklessness and are reconsidering independence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It is vital we have a candidate who can speak frankly about political and economic realities and opportunities to turn those undecided voters into committed Yessers. I believe I can do this”.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to the Edinburgh Evening News online and enjoy unlimited access to trusted, fact-checked news and sport from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Visit https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.