Election in East Lothian
2:23 pm on the 14th of April, 2005The Labour candidate is Anne Picking, a shadowy and highly elusive character who reputedly succeeded John Home Robertson as MP for East Lothian in 2001.
Her selection for East Lothian in 2001 was a surprise as she was, and remains, largely unknown in the constituency. Even Picking’s election agent has failed to justify her prolonged disappearances, merely commenting in the local paper that Ms Picking was not available.
Picking’s attendance record in the House of Commons was the poorest of any Scottish MP, while her expenses claims were amongst the highest in the UK: she claimed ?39,744 for travel in 2004, more than any other MP in the whole of the UK. This can be compared to Alistair Carmichael in Orkney & Shetland who claimed ?27,366 for travel, while David Hamilton in neighbouring Midlothian claimed just ?18,883. Picking’s total expense claim in 2004 was ?148,818, in the top ten highest claims for the whole of the UK.Source: Scottish Politics
All the bold text is my own
I’m not a fan of this MP, this woman has shown she is incompetant since election and I thoroughly hope she doesn’t get re-elected, although that is unlikely as it is a Labour stronghold. I saw her on PMQs once and she was told to sit down because her question was neither a question nor was it about a subject relevant to Central Government.
It struck me that the election could be interesting in East Lothian due to the influx of people from outside the constituency and the redrawing of the boundaries. Since 2001 a lot of people have moved from Edinburgh to East Lothian for various reasons - namely better road links and an abundance of horrible cheap plastic new houses - and that could make a difference to the overall majority, but probably not a very big one as Edinburgh is pretty strongly Labour as well. Interesting to see though.
April 15th, 2005 at 1:56 pm on the 15th of April, 2005
Will you be voting in East Lothian, or Glasgow, Stuart? Just out of interest. When I was at university, I voted in Edinburgh, so this is the first time I will have voted in East Lothian for a General Election.
April 17th, 2005 at 9:36 pm on the 17th of April, 2005
Well please don’t vote Labour, Lordy. I’m with Stuart on this one, and not on political party grounds for once. She replaced John Home Robertson (JHR), when he became MSP, and is very much centrally appointed. She, I understand, has always lived in London, prior to being (s)elected by Labour, and I think worked for a ‘think tank’. A Labour yes-lady she is. Every election a few MP’s get booted out purely on local grounds (I’m sure you can name them), and I can’t help but feel that if a local party in East Lothian really went for this woman, they could get it. Can’t see it happening this time though. I could elaborate but its would be a long post, and only worth typing if people are actually interested.
But I will say this - JHR is an excellent MSP, who seems to work tirelessly for his constituency. I’ve a lot of time for him, though I admit I don’t support his party, and could never vote for a party led by it’s leader. That is why I find it so sad that this woman is the equivalent MP.
April 18th, 2005 at 3:54 pm on the 18th of April, 2005
I’ll be voting in East Lothian, there seems to be no reason for me to vote in Glasgow, More things that affect me happen in East Lothian - as that is where parents are and what affects them affects me.
JHR is a good MSP and was a good MP for many years, Anne Picking is just one of Blair’s Boobs. JHR spends a lot of time working for the constituency as well as spending time seeing people, especially young people. He regularly came to school to speak, getting involved in the mock elections and what not. Picking though does nothing of the sort as far as I can tell.
Trackbacks/Pings
Leave a Reply