Despite Scottish revival, Labour may struggle in East Kilbride

The Tory defector’s name comes up surprisingly little on the doorsteps, according to this year’s SNP candidate Grant Costello – except when voters make him pledge not to do the same.

While the Tories have always performed poorly in East Kilbride, Labour have not fared much better in recent years and Costello takes hope from this.

(Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

The main contender against him is Labour’s Joani Reid (above), a former councillor in south London who recently moved to the town for the election.

East Kilbride sits on a high plateau a few miles south of Glasgow nestled in the South Lanarkshire countryside. Scotland’s first new town it is arguably also one of its most successful examples of utopian post-war urban planning.

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Its distinct identity means Reid, who grew up in Glasgow, is particularly vulnerable to accusations of carpetbagging.

“The choice is between myself and a Labour candidate who’s from London and doesn’t know Calderwood from Calderglen,” says Costello.

Reid is the granddaughter of legendary trade unionist Jimmy Reid, one of the leaders of the famous Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in of the early 1970s.

Apparently less talkative than her grandfather, Reid declined the offer of an interview for this piece.

She has a mountain to climb in East Kilbride. Even in 2017, Labour’s best performance in the seat since losing it to the SNP two years before, the party were still nearly 4000 votes behind their rivals.

At the last election, Cameron was returned with a beefy majority of more than 13,000 votes.

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The big issues for voters at this election, says Costello, are the cost of living crisis and “worries over privatisation” in the NHS.

What about independence, I ask, are voters expecting independence or indyref2 negotiations to begin this year if the SNP win the majority of Scottish seats?

“I don’t think most people are, that the honest truth,” says Costello (below).

(Image: Grant Costello)

“But as John [Swinney] said at the manifesto launch, it’s about reinvigorating, reinforcing that mandate that we won in 2021.”

He insists it is still a “live issue” for voters but that as a primary concern it is behind the bread and butter issues like the state of the economy and public services.

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“When you see support for independence, at its worst at 2014 levels, at its best we’re above 50% sometimes significantly above 50%, it is very much a live issue,” he says.

Costello, who works as a digital media manager for the party, says that “nobody is expecting if you vote SNP on July 4, independence is going to happen on July 5” – but says independence is a “current that runs through everything”.

He believes the best way for Scotland’s interests to be represented at Westminster is by returning a large number of SNP MPs. Reid would say that by voting Labour, Scotland can “send a government” to Westminster.

Costello believes that national polls showing Scotland swinging to Labour may be wrong based on the results his team is getting from local campaigning.

Labour may be hopeful for winning much of Scotland’s central belt – but a win in East Kilbride and Strathaven would mean they were having an exceptionally good night. It’s not a prospect the SNP relish.