Day 27

The Sunday Herald poll makes grim reading. I do still think there is much to play for but our team have to dig deep to not become despondent. However, many members of the congregation wish me well for Thursday and coupled with an afternoons delivering and speaking to folk in the street, I feel much better. I still believe that when folk really think about the chaos 4 years of arguing about the constitution and not on the issues that matter, they will think twice about voting SNP. Whether they vote for us however, lies in the quality of our last 3 days campaigning.

Day 26

I did my surgeries in the middle of the days campaigning. It was busy but my Saturday surgeries always are. It was a real grounding again. We can get very wrapped up our campaigning and the minutia of which streets have been covered with what leaflets. These folk just needed thing sorted and done so in a way that they felt they were getting control over their lives again. Whatever happens on May 3rd, they remain the reason why I put myself through this.

Day 25

A hustings put on by the Chamber of Commerce during the day was well attended. Stephen Purcell leader of Glasgow City Council also came along at their request to promote with me the Maglev train proposal initially between Edinburgh and Glasgow and then to London. Maglev technology is the kind of thinking we need to transform our connectivity. Imagine the two great cities of Scotland being so connected that you could get there in 15 minutes and know it was one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly methods possible. Stephen and I committed to finding the funding for the next stage of a feasibility study for the Edinburgh Glasgow link if we are re-elected. If Scotland wants to compete in the global economy, we need to take these kinds of opportunities and grasp them with both hands.

Day 24

The day begins with the official opening of the new council offices. Its Princess Anne that's been invited to do the unveiling of the plaque. I have to swallow my republican views, shake her hand and welcome her to the building. Its part of the job and so needs to be done properly but its still a bit strange to be in that situation.The last Full Council is a strange affair. In amongst the end of term feeling is the Meadowbank controversy. I have proposed a motion that I think goes at least some way to meeting the aspirations of the protesters who come on a delegation, (and present themselves really well, I have to say, clear and focused). By working with the other parties and accepting parts of their amendments, I manage to create something that has all party support. ( are we all trying hard to practice for coalitions, I wonder?). It creates a working group with local representation and an independent convener at look at the whole issue and report back. I am unsure of the response of the protesters to there being no debate. I am pleased to get all party support but in some ways I would liked to have been able to make a couple of points. I am still getting e-mails suggesting that I am not wanting any sports facilities built at meadowbank which was never the case and some folk are suggesting that what I was bringing to the Council presupposed the demolition of Meadowbank which was simply not true. It may be their interpretation of my words but having written the motion I know what I meant, that having decided on the sporting requirements, the group should then look at how to best deliver them, and if that meant a refurbished Meadowbank then that would be fine. I know I can’t control how people interpret things but its a pain when it is so far from what I intended.

Day 23

We have to get the kids ready and out very early so that I can get to the Balmoral for 7:30am. On three days notice we have got a venue, sponsor and 120 guests. The team has excelled themselves. Gordon is brilliant and Jack was on good form too. I get to sit next to Ian Rankin at the press conference. He tells me that Rebus would vote Labour which is nice but but its real people we need to be marking their ballots. 150 business men and women have signed an advert in support for the Union. Suddenly there seems like something worth fighting for. Jim Spowart who founded Intelligent Finance asks simply, all these businessmen and women supporting the SNP, they have been hugely successful in the Union, what is it about independence that will make them more successful? By the end of the day I have done an event for a chanty called common purpose, I’ve spoken at 2 other events and attend the launch of a great group called

Day 22

I seemed to spend much of the day dealing with sewage again. its a right scunner that we are getting the blame for something we did not control and only went into the front line about because those that should have, SEPA and Scottish Water, seemed to go to ground. I agree that we will call for an inquiry at the Council meeting. I also work on the motion on Meadowbank stadium. It is being portrayed by some as presupposing the closure of the stadium which I am clear it is not. If we conclude that ten facilities that should be delivered at Meadowbank can be best done so by the refurbishment of the present stadium than I am up for that. I want to make sure we do not loose three years work whilst responding to the legitimate concerns of those who feel excluded by our process so far but its a hard line to keep focuses on. Through out the day I work with the small team putting together the breakfast with Gordon Brown. Every time I think I have got it sussed, another wee detail seems to emerge that needs a decision. The most bizarre is getting a phone call to ask my height so we can get a lectern at the average for myself, Gordon Brown and Jack McConnell. I dash home with Chara on the bus and race back for the Labour group meeting, the last of the session. It is very upbeat. No-one is in any doubt of the task ahead but confidence is growing.

Day 21

My day is filled with sewage but before that happens I hold a press conference to outline my ideas for Edinburgh as a capital city. I know we do well as an international city and for residents but we haven’t yet rediscovered our role as a capital. You can read the speech on our website. I was joined on the platform by Sarah Boyak MSP (deputy communities minister) and Douglas Alexander MP (Secretary of State for Scotland). Nice to have a joined up local, Holyrood and Westminster moment...I had asked for a meeting with John Hargrieves, Chief Exec of Scottish Water after the horrendous spills into the Forth over the weekend. In the end I got a 30 minute phone call as he was still trying to get things sorted. There are some serious questions to be asked about this event and although it was a helpful phone call I will be calling for a full inquiry at the Council meeting on Thursday.In between this I and a small team worked on an event for Wednesday, I spent an hour at our campaign headquarters, met with the chief executive for our weekly meeting, fielded too many calls about sewage and then spent the evening at my local community council. Who says life in politics is boring!

Day 20

I am woken by the phone which is a request to do radio interviews about Seafield sewage. I do two and then discover that my statement is on the front page of the Sunday Herald . I spend time before church talking with our staff about what's happening over communications including having environmental wardens patrolling the beaches. We’ve had a team patrolling from 6:30am and I will number about 20 once we get to peak times. The texts and messages continue during the service. By lunch time its the top story on Radio 4 but the view from the environmental agencies is that its been handled as well as it could have been, but there's lots of questions that need answering and I will be pressing for an early meeting with the chief executive of Scottish Water on Monday. I spend the afternoon doing direct mailings. Its very Labour intensive but is probably more effective than mass leafleting although I have no doubt that if we didn’t leaflet that would be held against us. One of my colleagues says that if he gets in again he is going to spend four years identifying his supporters and staying in touch with them so he never needs to climb a stair, get through a door entry system or have his hand bitten by a dog as he puts a leaflet through a letterbox! I have some sympathy with that method but as the pile of direct mail sits I wonder if it is in fact any easier!

Day 19

Shifted a huge number of leaflets in various parts of the ward focusing on very local issues. Its quite overcast so we don’t see many folk in their gardens. I do get a haranguing by one chap about various local “inadequacies” as he put it, but after 10 minutes discussion he says well ok, I’ll consider supporting you after all. Of course, with PR, that could mean voting for me 11th! I see my first sign of opposition activity bar the SNP. Sadly its the BNP. I know we live in a democracy and that we value freedom of speech but there is a bit of me that wonders if the pain these chancers cause with their racist rubbish is worth the principle. Its particularly hurtful for my running mate Shami Khan who is of Pakistani origin. He shrugs it off but I can see its hurting him. However, Portobello High Street is full of stalls so the race has truly begun! Better response in the afternoon as the sun comes out and people are relaxing outdoors. One woman even offers to leaflet the street for me but given that she is the last but one house I have to politely decline, wishing I had started at her end an hour ago! Its during this work that I am first informed about the problems at Seafield sewage works. I have to stop being a local candidate and start being Council Leader again. Top priority is making sure we communicate the problem to as many folk as possible in the effected area as quickly as possible. I am briefed on the plan,.I ask questions, make comment and suggest changes. I am told that pumping the partially treated sewage directly into the sea is the “emergency plan”. I have to concentrate on the issue at hand but make a note to ask questions about that later. Because its the election period, the broadcast media don’t want politicians to interview but the newspapers do so I have to agree a statement . I decide to focus on public safety first. recriminations can come later. I finish the calls and turn to continue leafleting only to be stopped by a chap in is garden who wants to talk about dog fouling. Today it would seem all politics is about......

Day 18

The day begins at 8:30am with a series of meetings mostly about new leaflets and other events happening next week. We are running at full stretch here and there's some debate about focusing on doing what we can well rather than doing too much and not doing anything effectively. A couple of us do an hours lunchtime leafleting on Princes Street at the West End. The idea was as much to get a sense of the temperature as it was to get leaflets out although we shift loads of them. It would be true to say that probably as many folk refused a leaflet as took one but them the guy giving out restaurant menus had a similar hit rate but we experience very little outward hostility. A couple of snide remarks about Tony Blair and a couple of others about Iraq, (which given my own views on that subject I was almost relieved to hear). Yet we also got plenty of “I’m with you and I’ll be voting Labour”. But indifference probably won the day. We had a gathering of group members and our support staff late afternoon. These folk are the saving grace for our work as councillors. Unsung hero(ine)s who work very hard for little recognition and who will also be effected by the election result in that they many well be redeployed depending on the results. So it was good to be able to celebrate their work and to say thank you. In the evening I attend a superb event held at the Annandale Street Mosque to mark the departure of the Chief Constable Paddy Tompkins. Community relations has been a big priority for him and it shows with the warmth of the reception he gets. Amongst other initiatives we now have two seconded police officers from Pakistan here in Edinburgh and some of our officers have been over there. Suddenly I have to make a speech, about which I had no warning. I comment that the event is a sign of very good police community relationships, but also that it is without comment that I, as a presbyterian minister as well as a politician could be there to break bread and join in the celebrations.

Day 17

Front page again. This time for my motion on Meadowbank. As ever, by doing what those who didn’t like what was being suggested because they weren’t consulted is portrayed as a u turn rather than as listening but perhaps I can’t expect anything else. My own view is that we should try to make sure we can have a track and training facilities for athletics. Even though we had promised to provide facilities already for 94% of the present users, that was not enough and we need to do more. However, it will be for the working group to offer suggestions as to what that “more” is. I manage also to write a 10 minute speech for and do another hustings, this time on regeneration, have lunch with the retiring Chief constable, organise another leaflet for getting out on Saturday, sign a new considerate contractor agreement with 8 utilities, do two newspaper interviews and a press release for another event. In amongst this I take a call from a constituent whose is in tears. She is a victim of domestic violence and her situation is unbearable. Her tears and her words remind me why I do this and for whom. She has to be the reason or there is no reason.

Day 16

The hustings are front page news which is a bit bizarre but it make a nice change that Council elections are to the fore in the media.That being said, the national elections aren’t t really front page news either. The radio stations won’t interview politicians for fear of being accuse of bias, the telly has it all at fourth or fifth story and usually council elections are relegated to a paragraph or two. Having said that, it transpires I was on newsnight last night over my remarks in a speech two years ago over the naming and shaming of under 16 kids who commit anti social behaviour. How weird is that to be the main item in a news programme and not to know you are on. Clearly if I want to get more coverage I need to disagree with my own party more often, but then that becomes the issue and not the subject itself, so its not really coverage.My surgery tonight was packed. 12 cases. 10 of them new ones. Everyone very friendly, just wanting the ordinary problems sorted and not one mentioned the election.

Day 15

All day my stomach was tight. I was on edge and felt very wound up. We do some photos for leaflets in the ward and then I dash back for a meeting that doesn’t happen which is a real pain. My tension, of course, is because of the hustings this evening. Promoted by the federation of small businesses (www.fsb.org.uk) I was pretty sure it is going to be a less than friendly crowd. I rehearse my opening speech a couple of times and then try to prepare for potential questions but its hard to know what is before me.The hustings itself is a bit boisterous. One man asked, in all seriousness, if we planned the road works and central Edinburgh traffic management scheme (CCTM) as a punishment for folk voting against the congestion charge. We do not control road works (of the 27000 road opening in the city, 85% are the utilities who do not work to our timeline). Tram was the big issue. I defend them against a number of attacks, most of which are ill informed. The SNP, who would cancel trams, or so they claim, argue that it will “only mean a 2% drop in congestion”. What they fail to point out is that is a 2% drop in present levels as opposed to a 60% increase if we do nothing. It would take 120 buses an hour to carry the number of passengers a tram can. They are playing to a gallery that is becoming smaller and smaller, thankfully. In the end I enjoy the event and my worries are for nothing although I have always said that the day you stop being nervous before a public event is the day you should give up.

Day 14

A Labour Group meeting this week debates our next steps with some passion, borne I think from a combination of pre match nerves, excitement and, from those stepping down, demob happiness. Despite its boisterous nature, we are united, something many said wouldn’t be the case by now. I spend the afternoon working on a speech for an event this week and drafting yet another leaflet. I do wonder if its worth it given the number of folk who say they don’t read them but it feels like what we should be doing. An evenings canvassing is cancelled as I come home to find my wife really ill and so domesticity, kids dinners and the ironing call. I worry about not being out on the door steps but a night in with the kids is a wee bonus and somehow the ironing does feel more constructive than leafleting knowing much of what we push through the doors is rarely read in any detail.

Day 13

A keen team of 4 (myself and three others) cover the 1000 or so households I wanted delivered this afternoon in around 2 hours this afternoon which feels good until I realise that unlike previous times when that was around 20% of the ward, that's now only about 8%.We aren’t door knocking but the response from the gardens is good though I do have one very polite chap who hands me back my leaflet saying that he’d already made up his mind! The talk of the steamie is the reports about the Labour broadcast and what constitutes “ordinary folk”. Well there's plenty of “ordinary folk” down my way who would have piped up and said they think the local income tax is madness. Once again I also had tories going to vote for us to keep out the SNP. There was a poll in Scotland on Sunday that put us just ahead but I am told its not from one of the mainstream polling organisations so I shouldn’t get too excited. So I won’t, but it does reflect what we are being told locally.

Day 12

A campaign meeting for the ward in the morning is very upbeat despite the enormity of the task ahead. We agree plans for more leaflets, phones, target letters, poster distribution and I even have a volunteer for doing our lamppost posters! I know lampposts don’t have votes and I hear that there is a huge increase in postal votes but I think, if nothing else, lamppost posters give the election a sense of happening and urgency. They are a real pain however so if a ruling came to stop them I wouldn’t be looking for a ditch to die in over them. I then went out leafleting for 4 hours. Good response in the streets as I walked round which always keeps moral high. I saw Kenny MacAskill and his wee team driving round in a van shouting at everyone down a megaphone. Leafleting is very labour intensive and fair knackers your legs on all those stairs but its still more effective, I think anyway, than shouting at folk from afar.

Day 11

Went out to Currie to do a stall after a morning of impromptu meetings with officials about too many things to mention. I was glad to get out of the office. Our reception was better than I had first thought it might be in what is one of our leafier and more well off suburbs. In fact the first person who came up to us said “ at last, its time the Labour party was up here again, we're not all Tories you know!” I was then cornered for what felt like much too long by a guy who was adamant that our membership of the European Union was the first sign of what is predicted in the Book of Revelations and then by an advocate of the Currie by-pass! Still, it takes all types. Once again however, what we are experiencing on the ground, not just at the stall but the phones and the doors is not what I see in the polls. This election is all about the don’t knows.

Day 10

Another day of mixing life as leader and life as candidate. 2 meetings with officials, one about garden aid and another about the Science Festival along with a wee bit of fire fighting by phone was interspersed by some classic campaigning;I fought with a photocopies, found I had addressed a whole set of envelopes with the same addresses twice and couldn’t get a letter to a potential voter to print! Norman Murray, our Scottish parliament candidate’s next leaflet arrived. 34,000 of them. I’m told that people spend between 3 and 10 seconds reading leaflets before they end up in the pile with the Chinese takeaway menus and the free quotations for double glazing by the phone or on the kitchen bunker. It seems a waste of time, but folk would also notice if they don’t get the leaflets, even if they don’t read them.We have managed to be co-ordinated enough to be able to do joint leafleting with council candidates. Offers of help are beginning to come in and leafleting is something most folk will do at least a wee bit of. The deadline for candidates has now passed. I have at least 3 protest candidates standing against me. Such are the joys of leadership! I try not to take it personally but sometimes I do wonder...I note however that the SNP candidates, at least for the Scottish parliamentary constituency are registered as “Alex Salmond for first Minister", (SNP) candidates. Now is that the same Salmond who was always complaining about what he called Tony Blair's “presidential style”! Are we electing a party or one man, or is this the confession that this is truly a one man band of a party after all...

Day 9

Today didn’t go to plan. A mistake was spotted in direct mail letters at the last minute which means they all need to be reprinted. A meeting to plan an event next week was an hour late and didn’t have all the info we needed. A photo shoot for a new leaflet was rudely interrupted by someone who seemed to think that all the ills of the world were my fault and how dare I be a minister in political life. Ah, the bliss of the democratic process. On the other hand, feedback from canvassing is good, better than the polls are suggesting. My next leaflet is making its way out quickly and the team at the rooms were on good form with plenty of that banter that makes the election process much more bearable. So I remain upbeat. I spent the evening at the John Lewis event for their staff at the EICC. It was an inspiring event with over 800 staff (out of 1025) listening to General manager Andrew Murphy using a wide array of excellent visuals to deliver a speech that focused on the importance of staff participation in the life of the company and the simple “rule” that happy staff will mean happy customers will mean better results. Its not rocket science but it works. Can I achieve that with the voters of Edinburgh? An altogether much more complicated task.

Day 8

It felt like today was the day the campaign kicked off. Perhaps it was the launch of the Labour Manifesto which, amongst many good news stories, recognised my campaign for Edinburgh to have real capital city status, (page 100) or being interviewed by the Evening News for their “meet the local leaders” series or the two hours I spent counting leaflets into 10s and 50s for the next run! Who knows but certainly it feels like it’s really begun to hot up.

I spoke with our national organisers today. This will be a campaign won and lost on local issues and our local candidate’s ability to remind folk of what has been achieved with a Labour led council.

I would give you a list myself but it was much better articulated by a man I met at the International Science festival event I attended in the evening. He was not, I have to confess, some-one I thought would be a supporter but he strode up to me and said “I’m voting for you lot. My kids are going to be in a new school, I drive past another three new schools on my way to work, we’ve got the best bus service in the country and this city is just the best place to live in Britain. You must have done something right in the last 20 years”. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

The event I was at was a brilliant talk by Professor Marcus du Sautoy on the wonder of the never ending (prime) numbers. It was the most unmaths like maths lecture I have ever heard. Brilliant! I just hope our votes also come in never ending numbers too!

Day 7

The phone calls start early as the campaign picks up. People checking in, asking for detailed information, wanting to make sure information is getting out to the membership. Theres teams out across the city knocking on doors and delivering leaflets. This campaign has already reached a new level of sophistication with leaflets being designed on almost a street by street basis. This election will be won and lost on local issues. Sure the big issue will matter but with 50% undecided, the swings will come on pavements, potholes and personal agendas. 4 different Edinburgh Evening News reporters ring me about 4 different subjects, though not all to do with the election. Its a sure sign they are on skeleton staff with a heavy deadline. I should just write the paper for them. I hit the phones in the evening. Its tough. I hate telephone canvassing but I cover a street in 45 minutes when it took me over 3 hours door to door to do a similar street last week. The results confirm our view that our vote hasn’t left us but its still not solidly with us. This is going to be a long three weeks .

Day 6

Easter Sunday. The dawn service is my favourite service of the year. Its a great turn out at my local church. 7am start to think about the very heart of the Christian faith. The 10:30 service is similarly busy. There is still a desire to believe, to follow, to be faithful, despite what the opinion polls might say about the state of the church!
I avoid reading the papers. I wonder about the veracity of the opinion polls they are printing. I don’t do any campaigning today although I get lots of unsolicited promises of support on polling day from the congregation. That's really nice but that too is perhaps a less than accurate picture of the challenge facing me.

Day 5

Easter Saturday. For the Christian community a time for reflection and prayer between the crucifixion and the resurrection. So despite the fact its probably the biggest weekend for campaigning I didn’t do any today. Instead I went to my local church for a service and then to the Easter play in the gardens (Princes Street). A crowd of over 4000 turned out in the sunshine to see the re-enacting of the gospel story of Jesus' adult life, death and resurrection. Its a bit of a risk not campaigning. Its not through some idea that campaigning would be wrong over Easter. Its simply for me, as I try to live out my faith in a world of politics, I need to make the space to remind myself what's really important and why I do what I do at an otherwise hugely pressured time. And the “joy” of mobile phones meant I wasn’t entirely removed from hearing what others were up to, questions they had and decisions they needed taken immediately whilst I watched scenes from 1st century Palestine re-enacted in Princes Street!.

Day 4

Good Friday. Start of the most important of the Christian festivals . I decide to slow down and not overdo the campaigning this weekend, concentrate on things spiritual instead and spend some time with my kids. That resolution gets stopped in its tracks with a flurry of texts and calls once people start reading the Herald poll which appears to give us a lead, even in local government elections. I am more cautious and try to calm down my more enthusiastic colleagues. One swallow and all that. Even though the results seem to bear out our experience on the doorstep I think all this shows is that folk are taking their opposition to several places rather than simply coalescing round one party. More importantly, this poll shows that this election will be won and lost on what the “don’t knows” decide once they get in the booth at the polling station. We still need to give them a reason to vote for us, rather than depend on them simply not to vote for someone else. Still, for the darkest day in the Christian Calendar, its a nice wee shaft of light on what are otherwise still challenging times.

Day 3

Began the day with meetings about how we cope with bin collections over holidays. I remember being told once that Jacques Chirac made his political career by reorganising the bin collections in Paris. I don’t know if thats true but no matter the solutions offered there always seems to be another problem to overcome. This one will run and run.
Spent much of the day doing personal letters to specific groups of potential voters. I would much prefer to be out and about meeting people but I am told that this is much more efficient. I don’t know if that means meeting me is more off putting or just that we can cover more bases this way with a similar return rate. I decided not to ask!
More campaign meetings to plan interspersed with a meeting with a developer who has a very controversial proposal. I tell him so and that I don’t think that it will be acceptable. I do want to be open to new ideas but lines also have to be drawn. Despite suggestions otherwise, I don’t believe in change for change sake.
Back out knocking door to door this evening in an area that might be assumed to be not our natural territory yet the response is generally good. Having said that, there are some folk who chose us the last time who are clearly scunnered, mostly by a sense of feeling they are no longer important to us. On this showing however, this is still our election to loose rather than it being already sewn up by the Nats or anyone else.

Day 2

Spent most of the day visiting folk who might need or want a postal vote. One woman told me that she “only ever voted for that Ewan”! I decided not to tell her that he was I in case she changed her mind.

The announcements about £160m on new bus lanes were welcome but I just cannot understand the spokesperson for the Association of British Drivers who say’s it’s a waste of money and anti car. Surely more attractive bus travel means more folk choosing buses leaving more space on the roads for those who can’t avoid using their car. This is a win-win but somehow it’s always seen as opposites by them.

In the evening I was back door knocking. This election with its system of proportional representation has taken us back to old fashioned canvassing and that’s a good thing given the image of politicians being very separate from the rest of the population.

It’s not scientific, only the streets we managed to get to last night but it showed some interesting responses. Virtually no support for SNP. In fact one Tory promised to vote for us to keep them out and another resident saying he wants an independent Scotland but not a socialist one so won’t be supporting the SNP, (or us unsurprisingly!).

I thought I would change the style of my blog for the next 30 days in the run-up to the election.

Instead of reflecting on particular subjects over the previous week I will try to give a flavour of how the campaign is going each day.

Day 1

A final proof text of my next leaflet throws up three errors. This is despite several drafts and at least 5 different people looking it over up to now. Still, I caught them in time which is a relief.

The thought of another 12.500 to get out however, fills me with trepidation. Every candidate brings their own wee team which always helps to boost the numbers of supporters. One of the consequences of the PR voting system is that we are only standing 24 candidates instead of 58. That’s 34 fewer wee teams to cover the same ground. No wonder the job seems so much bigger.

I seem to spend much of the say on the phone preparing for the next few weeks. No matter how many times its agreed for something to happen, it seems I have the need to check up its happened!

I managed to fit in a speech at the opening of the Rock Trust’s (http://www.rocktrust.org/) “Underground” facility for young homeless and potential homeless. It’s a brilliant project that copings with some of the most vulnerable in the city.

In the evening I was at the science festival launch having done the presentation of the Science festivals “Edinburgh Medal” the previous evening to do the opening speech. Its all exciting stuff but it won’t get me elected locally, so stair wells, door entries and dogs behind the letterbox here I come.