glasgow anniesland constituency

Glasgow Anniesland is the successor to the Glasgow Garscadden seat which was created in 1974 and was little affected by the 1983 boundary changes. To the Garscadden core of Drumchapel, Knightswood, and Yoker were added in 1997 the wards of Kelvindale, Kelvinside, Jordanhill and Anniesland itself from the old Hillhead constituency.

Glasgow Garscadden was held by Labour since it creation in 1974. The late Donald Dewar, whose untimely death has occasioned these by elections held the seat for Labour in the 1978 by-election with a reduced majority of 4,552, down from 7,637 in October 1974 against the SNP.

Mr Dewar held both the Westminster and Scottish Parliamentary seats and so this will be a 'double-header' by-election.

Since coming to power, Labour have seen their majority declining in Anniesland. It fell by a third over the two years between the 1997 general election and the 1999 Scottish Election. The majority for Labour in Anniesland in the second vote at the Scottish election was lower than for the first vote and in the European Elections later that same year the majority in Anniesland was cut again.

Labour Failing Anniesland
Some Key Constituency Statistics

Since New Labour were elected in 1997, their popularity has declined - and the SNP's has increased. In these by-elections, voters will be exercising their judgement on Labour and their performance on a range of issues.

1. Unemployment

Anniesland	11.2%
Scotland	4.6%
UK	3.6%

Blair and Brown's ever optimistic speeches about the prosperous economy cut little ice with the unemployed in Anniesland while the message from Eddie George that:

"Unemployment in the North was a price worth paying for low inflation in the South"

rubs salt into the wounds of those living in the constituency with the fifth highest unemployment rate in Scotland.

2. Poverty And Health

Social justice should be a feature of Labour's electoral pact with Scotland, but:

One third of households in Anniesland live in poverty

One half of households with children in Anniesland live in poverty

Aside from the obvious social impact of poverty, the link between poverty and ill health is inescapable, and of all the Westminster constituencies in the UK:

Anniesland is ranked as 5th in the list of constituencies in which people are most likely to die under the age of 65. The 1,2,3 and 4 slot are also occupied by Glasgow constituencies.

Glasgow has the highest mortality rate from respiratory disease In Scotland

Glasgow has the highest mortality rate from heart disease in Scotland

The mortality rate from cancer is 18 per cent higher for men and 13 per-cent higher for women in Glasgow than in the rest of Scotland.

3. Labour and the NHS in Glasgow

With this in mind, improving the NHS in Glasgow should surely have been a Labour priority. But:

There has been a 9 per cent increase in the Greater Glasgow Health Board waiting list over the last year. The list now stands at 13,575 patients.

In some sectors, waiting lists have increased more than others. For example there has been a 538 per cent increase in the vascular surgery waiting list. Less than half (46pc) of patients are dealt with in three months. This is the worst in Scotland.

The number of staffed beds available has dropped by 8.4 per cent since 1997.