'Scunnered': The mood in crucial by-election battleground

I spent the day in Hamilton town centre on Wednesday and must have spoken to maybe 40 people. The apathy and the anger were almost overwhelming.

Many didn’t want to speak on camera, many didn’t really have a view. But many who did speak told me they were scunnered with all the political parties.

I met more SNP voters than any other party but many of them were fed up with the party’s record in government but supported independence. Some didn’t really know why they were voting SNP.

I met a few Labour voters, although I met more who were angry at the party’s performance in government since the General Election. And I met a few Reform voters.

Two of them were some of the keenest voters I met. One man had tried the others and felt they had all failed and wanted to give Nigel Farage a shot.

The other had been a long-time Conservative voter but felt let down by them and was moving to Reform.

The issues bothering people included the state of Hamilton town centre, with empty shops and derelict buildings and shopping centres.

They are concerned about poverty and the cost of living. One woman I spoke to was looking after her grandchildren. Her own children lived in Glasgow; she told me she asked them if they would move back to Hamilton.

They told her that “Hamilton is for old people”.

Another woman told of her daughter’s struggle to find a home of her own. She is 23 and studying to become a nurse while working 32 hours a week in a care home.

But her mother fears that despite working hard she might never be able to afford a place of her own because there is a shortage of affordable homes to rent.

Other told me they were concerned about people coming from abroad and using services without ever having paid for them, and they weren’t all Reform voters. I met other who were worried about the rise of Reform.

This was by no-means a scientifically representative sample of the electorate. I was there in the middle of the day when many people would have been at work.

But the impression they made on me was that they feel none of the political leaders are delivering for them, not even listening to them. If only there was some way the candidates could connect with voters and get their message across. They could try a TV debate.

Insight

Why are only SNP and Reform putting up candidates for by-election debate?

Colin Mackay

Candidates in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election

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