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Friends and readers. On the eve of poll in the Forth Ward by-election,it has come to our attention of a possible serious breach of election rules.

Strong rumour has it and this rumour is reliable,that Labour and their candidate Cammy Day have spent over £2000 on stamps with a view to sending election letters out to voters.

If this is true then the electoral commission must be notified immediately. Since the start of this campaign the Labour party has been treading water. Their timing and choice of candidate was controversial to say the least and this left a number of members refusing to have anything to do with the Labour campaign. This coupled with dodgy e-mails which criticized former councillor Willian Fitzpatrick,something which Mr. Day denied,this latest potential scandal may well have put paid to Labour having any chance of holding on to a seat in the ForthWard.

It is crucially important that the election rules regarding finance are rigourously adhered to and if Labour have breached these rules then they must withdraw from this election.

Just because they are a big political party does not give them the right to do as they please. We demand a scrutiny of all the election expenses and if as thought Labour have purposely and knowingly breached the rules then they must be given the order of the boot.    

Friends and readers. Our American friend Amy who had been in Scotland studying politics and had been working with Pilton Sucks doing some research,has left us to go back home.

Before she left she cast her vote in the presidential election,she didn’t tell us who she voted for,but she said she did not vote Republican,dosen’t leave us with a hard guess.

Good luck to our student friend and thanks for all your work.  

Friends and readers,this is it,after weeks of campaigning by the candidates and thousands of leaflets put through doors and even a couple of hustings our sporting odds results are in.

We have watched the campaigning read the leaflets, heard reports from the hustings,which included some people who said that the Royston/Wardieburn hustings was the best they had ever been to,and now we have put all that into the melting pot and come up with the Pilton Sucks result.

This as you can appreciate is not a scientific study or in depth analysis of political policies but a general feeling that we have received from you the punters and our own overall view.

In no particular order we give you the results as you get ready to go to the polls.

Iain McGill-Conservative candidate. Mr. McGill produced a bright business type leaflet,which lacked a local angle in relation to the current services in this community and what he would do to support these services. A low profile campaign certainly within Royston ,Granton,Wardieburn and Muirhouse. Mr. McGill presents as a local person prepared to work for this community.

His finishing odds 15/1

Mr. Cammy Day–Labour Candidate.

In fact Labour are defending this seat and required a hard fact hitting campaign. We didn’t get that and the impression was that the Labour vote was being taken for granted.Mr.Day works locally and has an understanding of the problems facing this community which presented him with an opportunity to grab this campaign by the scruff of the neck,this did not happen,and with the rushed selection meeting which left a bad taste in some members mouths Labour got off to a bad start. Coupled with the fact that the Evening News ran a story about dodgy E-mails concerning former councillor William Fitzpatrick ,not good news for Labour. Traditional support may help Mr. Day but that is fading fast after years of Labour mis-rule in this community,

Finishing Odds 3/1

Sanne Dijkstra-Downie.

A massive disappointment and a very negative campaign which concentrated in the main on frightening voters using crime as a weapon.Pilton sucks seen all the candidates but Ms. Downie who did not attend either of the hustings was no-where to be seen.

Ms. Downie seemed to have no idea what was going on in the community and her election communications showed that up. It was clear right from the start Ms Downie was advised badly,and is relying on second preference votes to elect her,if she is which is unlikely,she will not have the support of the whole community,which may not make her lose any sleep.but will prove negative campaigning in this particular electoral system can sometimes work.

Bad candidate poor campaign.

Finishing odds 25/1

John Loughton–Independent candidate.

Mr. Loughton is a local man who has run a competent campaign and has more than held his own with the other more experience candidates. Good performances at the hustings coupled with two straight forward leaflets outlining what he thinks is needed for this community.Mr. Loughton comes across well and puts his case with passion.

On the down side an ill advised article in the NEN which he outlined his thoughts was not a good idea and who ever advised him to do it was an idiot.

Finishing odds 20/1

George Gordon–SNP Candidate.

Mr.Gordon hit the ground running with all his election communications concentrating on local issues and what he is involved in. Mr.Gordon is also a local person and has a strong presence in the community,and the candidate Pilton Sucks seen the most out and about in the community.

His straight forward no nonsense leaflets outlined what he is doing in the community and what he would intend to do if elected. Mr. Gordon,unlike his Lib Dem colleague did not concentrate on a single issue campaign but a much more sensible broader approach.

It would appear that the campaign that Mr. Gordon has run,has ticked all the boxes,and the mischief making article in the Evening News may only endear him to the voters.

Finishing odds 1/1 [even money]

Kate Joester–Green Candidate.

Kate has run as a candidate before and is a pleasant even thinking person. we seen Kate out and about once or twice and she also put in an appearance at the highly rated Royston/Wardiburn hustings.

Kate is running on a Green ticket and although low key is a campaign which if run more intensely could get people to think more about the environment around us,which would include instead of the few that think this community is just a waste bin to drop their shit in. Pilton Sucks finds the Green candidate some what refreshing and is a firm supporter of her views. Unfortunately this may not be her time.

Finishing odds 50/1

Robert Richard— Scottish Socialist Candidate.

Mr. Richard has run a clean honest campaign and we applaud him for that. His leaflet impressed us and showed he is up for making a difference. Whether his party can make a break through here is another matter,but we liked what he had to say,but that may not transfer into votes.

Finishing odds 100/1

Willie Black—-Solidarity candidate.

Mr. Black has ran before and is true to his beliefs. That is to be admired and he has run his usual vibrant campaign making sure his voice and message is heard. With out question Mr. Black is the loudest of the candidates but will his message reach out to all the voters?.

Finishing odds 150/1.

We did not receive any other mailing from any other candidate so we will be generous and offer 1000/1 any other candidate.

So there you have it friends and readers our final odds and placings,Pilton Sucks put everything together and came out with a result which put George Gordon the SNP candidate out in front followed by Cammy Day the Labour candidate.

The biggest  most suprising and disappointing feature of this election was the negative campaign run by the Lib Dems,and to a lesser extent the idiot who advised independent candidate John Loughton that an article in the NEN was a good idea. There’s always one isn’t there. 

Friends and readers. The boards are up on the lamp posts, the temperature is rising,and the candidates are at the starting gate.

The excitement is almost to much to bear but do your best to control yourselves,as you make up your minds who to vote for.

You have a choice of eight candidates all promising you the earth in return for your vote.

The Lib Dem candidate also promises to show up at some stage,that will be a first. So two days left before the polls open and you can taste the tension,bet most of you are unable to sleep at night.

So take your time examine what the candidates have to say then take your place in the queue to cast your votes. Pilton sucks will keep you up to date with all the election gossip and juicy tit bits,and remember folks we will post the result of our sporting odds on the eve of poll. This is one result you don’t want to miss.  

Friends and readers. Pilton Sucks has today received the Conservative election communication and on first impression it looks the part.

Printed on glossy A4 paper and in colour it is easily the brightest of the leaflets we have received.

Titled Iain McGill followed below by The best team in Forth Mr. McGill is pictured alongside Forth Ward Councillor Alan Jackson who endorses Mr. McGill.

Inside this leaflet on the second page Mr. McGill and a stern looking Alan Jackson tell us that under the Torrie’s every household in Edinburgh would receive a council tax cut of £150. The first question we would ask is,by how much would you have to slash the services to achieve such a cut.

Mr McGill goes on to tell us something about himself and he seems to have been a busy boy who also refereed the homeless World Cup Final.

On the third page is a number of endorsements from members of the community which we feel is always a plus.

On the plus side this is a well put together leaflet which endeavors to show Mr. McGill in a positive light and to that end it succeeds.

On the negative side he mentions nowhere anything about local services and how he sees them developing nor does he mention the new funding arrangements through the Fairer Scotland Fund,also like the Labour candidate none of his election material is printed locally or even in North Edinburgh.

All in all a well structured leaflet and easy on the eye but lacks substance and is devoid of local problems and the solutions Mr. McGill would offer.

We award Mr. McGill 18 out of 30.     

Friends and readers. Pilton Sucks has been out and about on the campaign trail for the past few weeks observing the action at first hand.

There has been a lot of activity with all the candidates making their presence felt except for the Lib Dem candidate for reasons yet to be explained.

As you would expect both Labour and the SNP are campaigning hard but the other candidates have put their two pence worth in as well. As far as we can gauge the SNP candidate George Gordon has been hitting the ground running and has been out and about more than the rest having a high visibility and not ducking any of the issues or members of the public. Labour candidate Cammy Day has been seen out and about as well along with the MP and MSP.

From what we have seen and the reports we have been getting Mr. Gordon is making the running backed up by his strong election communications which we are told has reached everybody in the community.

Mr. Loughton the independent candidate has made a bold showing as well and has impressed at the hustings.

As we enter the final week there is still all to play for with no candidate claiming they are in pole position. It seems to have been a fair and clean campaign which is good for politics in general and credit goes to the candidates for not trying to rubbish each other which of course lowers the tone of any campaign.

So the final push is on to win the backing of the voters,and Pilton Sucks will be there every step of the way,and as an added extra and to add a little spice to the campaign Pilton Sucks will post the result of our sporting odds on Wednesday eve of poll just to inject further excitement as the voters make up their minds and go to the polls.

Remember friends and readers the Polls open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 6th November. Your polling station will be printed on your polling card as there are a number of polling stations in this ward.

So try and contain your excitement and concentrate on what the candidates are saying or not as the case may be.

So read Pilton Sucks for all the latest election tit bits and the result of our sporting odds. We know the candidates are biting their nails with gusto in anticipation of the result. We are to.   

Friends and readers. We have received another communication from the elusive Lib Dem candidate Sanne Dijkstra-Downie.

Ms. Downie has been posted missing from both the ward hustings leading to accusations from many members of the community that she dosen’t want to mix it with the locals.

Ms. Downie makes the grand claim that she is set to win the by-election by proclaiming it as the headline of the Focus.

Ms. Downie has about as much chance of winning this election as Scotland has of winning the world cup.

Ms. Downie claims on the front of the focus that the cost of living is too high,Pilton Sucks feels that the cost of voting for Ms. Downie would be to high.

Ms.Downie should have taken a leaf out of the Lib Dems coalition partners the SNP whose candidate George Gordon has actually concentrated on local issues,and not just tried to frighten the voters by using crime as a weapon to con the voters.

Ms. Downie has missed a great opportunity to make this election a closer contest and we say that whoever advised her has pushed her up the wrong path and will result in defeat on Thursday.

Ms. Downie was no-where to be seen in Muirhouse Royston Wardieburn or the other less well off parts of the ward,she must have been hiding in Trinity trying as hard as she can for second preference votes.

The Lib Dem campaign has been one of trying to put fear at the top of the agenda with their ridiculous crime survey and we again remind Ms. Downie that she should have done her research and realised that there are a number of other pressing issues in this ward where anti social behaviour is just one and is not unique to this community.

She has continually referred to how people voted in the last General Election,which bears absolutely no relevance to a local by-election.

She tells us that Lib Dem Leader Tavish Scott joined the by-election campaign,where about? and why no publicity for it?

She is pictured in Royston examining the roads,must have been very early in the morning because nobody seen her.

The Lib Dems have blown this election with several major mistakes. First concentrating on crime and trying to frighten the voters.Second avoiding the local hustings giving the impression that she is not interested in debating with the community. And the third and most obvious of mistakes,not taking the time to speak to  at least the local activists about how they see the community developing.

Three glaring errors that have cost Ms. Downie this election. Next time if there is a next time we advice that she do her research and get her hands dirty.

We award Ms Downie 10 out of 30 for the Focus,poor effort which lacks any kind of local connection or real understanding of the local issues.

Overall poor campaign and even poorer candidate.

Friends and readers. We have had a flood of requests asking us to update the sporting odds for the Forth Ward by-election.

We were going to update them on Monday but as we have had a number of requests to update sooner we are delighted to do so.

So in no particular order.

1] G.Gordon SNP candidate 6/4

2]W. Black Solidarity candidate 250/1

3]S. Downie Lib Dem candidate 100/1

4] C. Day Labour candidate 7/1

5]R.Richard Scottist Socialist candidate 100/1

6]K. Joester Green candidate 15/1

7]J. Loughton Independent candidate 15/1

8]I Mcgill Conservative candidate 15/1

Any other candidates 1000/1

We will update again on eve of poll Wedensday 5th November.

Friends and readers. We have received another election leaflet this time from Robert Richard ,The candidate representing the Scottish Socialist Party.

A four page card type leaflet with a yellow on red background. On first impressions an impressive leaflet,with several issues affecting the local community mentioned.

Mr. Richard tells us he lives in Granton and works as a teacher in Fife.Together with the SNP these have been the most impressive of the election communications we have received.

Mr.Richard of course has education at the core of his message and that is an honourable one,but he also speaks of soaring fuel bills rightly saying this will have a severe impact on hundreds of households in North Edinburgh. His Party are also in favour of scraping the hated council tax,which Mr. Richard feels should be replaced with a tax based on the ability to pay,something which Pilton Sucks fully supports.

All in all an excellent leaflet with good content and well presented. On the negative side nothing about the Fairer Scotland Fund and it’s possible concequences.

Mr Richard has produced a readable document with a fair balance and reader friendly.

We therefore mark out of thirty 21.   

Friends and readers.The second of two hustings took place at Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre on Thursday 30th October. The report that we received from the hustings was that it was a first class event that was reasonably well attended.

7 of the candidates up for election attended the event giving their views and answers to questions asked by the audience.

We are told that the real star of the show was local activist Fred Marinello who chaired the meeting and received rave reviews for the way he conducted proceedings.

All candidates were encouraged to answer questions from the floor wheather the question was addresed to a particular candidate or or not. It appears the candidates thrived in the atmosphere created,with each of the candidates giving an air of confidence to their answers.

Unfortunatly Pilton Sucks was unable to attend the event and from the reports we have received it was our loss.

Again The Lib Dem candidate did not appear which was a mistake given the reports we received.

The other two candidates from the major parties SNP and Labour put up a good performance as did independent candidate Mr. Loughton who showed he was more than capable of holding his own against the other experienced candidates.

Solidarity, Scottish Socialist and the Green party candidate also put in good performances with an appearance from Ian Mcgill the Conservative candidate who also turned in a solid performance.

After the meeting we are told there was much praise for chair Fred Marinello from all the candidates,and we are told that a member of the audience got to her feet  praising  the chair for his handleing of the meeting.

All in all it seems this hustings went with a bang allowing the candidates the freedom to express themselves without resorting to petty attacks on each other,this spread to the audience who responded in the same way.

Of course the hustings may or may not have a bearing on the outcome of the election,but they are an important way of engageing the community and should be encouraged.

Full marks to both the Millenium Centre and Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre for putting on these hustings and of course to those who turned up.