PART of it was once known as Little Moscow when it was one of the first areas in the UK to elect a communist councillor, and now West Dunbartonshire is seeing the first foray onto the ballot paper of Scotland’s newest leftist political party.
The West Dunbartonshire Community Party is fielding four candidates on May 4.
The original Little Moscow, the Vale of Leven, is set to play a perhaps decisive role in the forthcoming council election.
Two of the new party’s candidates are in with a good chance of winning seats there.
In the two wards which cover the Vale of Leven, namely Lomond and Leven, West Dunbartonshire Community Party is standing two veteran local campaigners who are very well known in Renton, Alexandria, Bonhill, Jamestown and Balloch, the districts which make up the Vale as local people call it.
One of the founders of the new party is Jim Bollan, the veteran firebrand left winger.
He has been a councillor in the area for 28 years He was elected for the Leven ward in 2012 as a member of the Scottish Socialist Party.
He is now leading the new party’s charge, ably assisted by another veteran of many a political fight in the area, Louise Robertson, who is standing in the Lomond ward.
The West Dunbartonshire Community Party will also have candidates in Dumbarton and Clydebank Central.
In the Dumbarton ward the new party has another sitting councillor, George Black, who has transferred from being an independent.
Dean Allardice is one of the youngest candidates in Scotland.
Among those standing down from the council are two weel-kent faces in Dumbarton ward, the SNP’s Ian Murray and Tommy Rainey of the Labour Party, both much-respected figures in the town.
The Labour-run council’s leader Martin Rooney is standing again as is the opposition SNP group leader Jonathan McColl, both on the slate in Lomond ward.
West Dunbartonshire stretches from Clydebank to the shores of Loch Lomond.
As is the way of politics, some of the major issues in the area have little to do with local government but will undoubtedly impact on the election.
With the home of Trident, the Clyde submarine base, just over the hills from the Vale and 15 miles down the Clyde from Dumbarton, the issue of nuclear disarmament is one that is close to local people’s hearts, both for and against it.
Local MSP Jackie Baillie was the only Labour member to back Trident’s renewal when the matter was debated at Holyrood.
However, the Scottish party’s official stance is to cancel plans for renewal and seek a defence diversification strategy to protect jobs.
It will be interesting to see if the matter is raised on the doorsteps in what was once solid Labour territory.
In the northern part of the area, the fate of the Vale of Leven Hospital is a huge issue.
But again it is not strictly a local government matter.
The hospital seems to be continually under threat of closure though NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board and the Scottish Government deny this.
The hospital was the site of a horrendous C Diff outbreak which led to at least 34 deaths and a major public enquiry lambasted the NHS management afterwards.
There is a feeling in the area that the Vale of Leven Hospital is owed a future by those in charge and retaining the hospital is arguably the biggest concern of voters in Dumbarton and the Vale.
The council itself underwent a major restructuring two years ago as part of its reaction to the Westminster-imposed austerity cuts.
The Labour administration this year voted to freeze council tax and used some of its reserves to eke out its budget.
Dealing with future budget cuts will be the major priority of whoever takes over the council.
The Labour administration is happy to stand on its record and point to investment in the area in tourism and the whisky industry as proof that the local economy is resilient.
The SNP are putting up the largest number of candidates at 13, but Labour are only one behind that number. The Conservatives have six and much local comment is about the Greens and Liberal Democrats standing only one candidate each.
West Dunbartonshire was one of the four areas in Scotland which voted Yes in the 2014 referendum. This would appear to indicate the possibility of a good result for the SNP.
However,the new Community Party has thrown a curve ball at their opponents, and if the electorate splits along Labour-SNP lines, Scotland’s newest party could be holding the balance of power.
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