Across Scotland, we have been asking our readers to tell us what they wanted candidates to be speaking about as they competed for votes.
We were doing this to create a ‘Citizens Agenda’. The idea for this project was that rather than let the politicians and party machine determine the topics of conversation, we wanted to ensure the candidates were talking about the issues that really matter to our constituents.
We will also be holding candidates accountable to their answers and will be doing further reporting on the issues that arose.
Read what we heard in our survey responses here.
We not only held a national survey online but we also asked our partners to survey their individual localities both in person and online.
What some of our partners did with this data
Broughton Spurtle, Edinburgh
In Edinburgh, the Broughton Spurtle held a hustings event for the candidates standing in Edinburgh North & Leith, where they were able to raise the issues that came up from readers. You can read the round up of what the candidates said and how they fared here, with additional answers set in by candidates here.
Fios community newspaper, Lewis
At Fios community newspaper in the north of Lewis, they asked every candidate to discuss five key topics: Renewable Energy; Peats and Peatland; Transport; Affordable Housing and International Politics (Ukraine, Gaza and the US Election).
They received responses from the following candidates: Kenny Barker – Scottish Conservative and Unionists, Torcuil Crichton -Scottish Labour, Jamie Dobson – Liberal Democrats, Angus MacNeil -Independent, Susan Thomson – SNP. They had no response from Tony Ridden – Reform UK or Steven Welsh – Scottish Family Party.
Glenkens Gazette, Dumfries and Galloway
At the Glenkens Gazette they put together nine questions which were sent to all seven candidates. They also asked candidates for a short statement on any connections they have to the Glenkens area, and what they plan to do in parliament to make a positive material difference to us all. Read their answers here.
Greater Govanhill magazine, Glasgow
In Greater Govanhill, they put a list of questions together to put to candidates in Glasgow East and Glasgow South, the constituencies that their magazine serves. They received responses from most of the candidates and published these as two separate voting guides.
