Your Edinburgh election guide
Your Edinburgh election guide
Plus: City sweeps the board at TripAdvisor tourism awards and feted pastry maker overrun
Too close to call as Capital prepares for polls
It really is too close to call. Not the direction of the General Election, of course, but the fate of several seats across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
When we go to the polls on Thursday, Labour and the SNP will go head-to-head in what is undoubtedly the most competitive national election seen in the Capital for years. Like across the country as a whole, you can confidently predict Labour will make gains - not so hard given the miserly single seat they returned locally last time - but most individual constituencies are to a greater or lesser degree difficult to call.
With the exception of Edinburgh West, where the SNP are the main challenger in the Lib Dems’ city stronghold, Labour has aspirations of a clean sweep across the region. That would be remarkable a sea change on a par with the “yellow dawn” of 2015, when the SNP came from nowhere - in terms of Westminster representation in the region - to claim every seat apart from Ian Murray’s in Edinburgh South. In most of those seats, however, the SNP still has hopes of its own, despite the party’s struggle to make clear headway in its national campaign.
Pulling an all-nighter? The sensible among us will go to bed, but if you’re planning to stay up then stock up on caffeine and munchies. All the Edinburgh seats are not expected to declare until 4.30am, the same time as Livingston, while Lothian East (4am) and Midlothian (3am) are due a wee bit earlier. All results across the UK are predicted to arrive between 12.30am and 6am, barring mishaps and recounts.
Edinburgh’s bellwether seat: A Labour win in Edinburgh South West - one of the SNP’s safest seats in recent years - would be a clear sign they are heading for the widely-predicted super-majority. The latest constituency-specific polling puts Labour city councillor Dr Scott Arthur neck and neck with the SNP’s Joanna Cherry KC.
Ones to watch: Labour will be hoping two of its big guns - Douglas Alexander, tipped as a potential Foreign Secretary, and Ian Murray, the likely Scottish Secretary - have relatively comfortable nights in Lothian East and Edinburgh South respectively. Two of the SNP’s best-known MPs, Cherry and Tommy Sheppard in Edinburgh East, are facing tight fights to avoid becoming high-profile casualties, as are Deidre Brock in Edinburgh North and Leith and Hannah Bardell in Livingston.
The ‘Portillo moment’: Everyone’s talking about what the ‘Portillo moment’ will be, the one everyone remembers watching on TV as a big figure loses their seat. Could it be Jeremy Hunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg or Liz Truss whose seats are all said to be at risk? The biggest of them all, unlikely as it might be, is the possibility suggested by some polls that Sunak could yet become the first sitting Prime Minister to lose their seat. The result in his Richmond & Northallerton constituency is due at 4am.
‘Two job’ transport chief? One intriguing Edinburgh sub-plot is the possibility of Labour’s Scott Arthur winning a Westminster seat. His current day job is as a city councillor with the toughest and most high-profile role, other than leader, as transport convener. Whether or not, in the event of winning, he carried on as a city councillor, he would have to step down from the demanding convener’s role. That would spark a scramble within Edinburgh Labour, although whether that is to take on his job, or avoid it, is difficult to tell.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
SWIM STAR’S CANCER FIGHT: Olympic swimming prospect Archie Goodburn, 23, has announced he has been diagnosed with a rare and inoperable form of brain cancer. The Edinburgh swimmer, who represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and narrowly missed a place at the Paris Olympics, will undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy as the three oligodendogliomas. He has told how he suffered seizures during training for the Olympic trials, which he believed at the time were migraines.
SIMPLY THE BEST: The Real Mary King’s Close has been named the best visitor attraction in the UK - and 11th best in Europe - by TripAdvisor, based on its visitor reviews. The underground street off the Royal Mile was one of four Edinburgh attractions in the UK top five, with the Royal Yacht Britannia coming in a narrow second, Edinburgh Castle ranking third and the National Museum of Scotland fifth.
TAIWAN TROUBLE: The threat of sanctions from China hitting Scottish universities, tourism and business may not have been enough to kill off city council plans to sign a formal Friendship Agreement with Taiwan’s second largest city Kaohsiung. Council leader Cammy Day said an official report on the proposal - which was pulled within hours of its contents being reported by the Inquirer last week - is likely to be brought before councillors within a month or two, following consultation with city businesses and other stakeholders.
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY: City councillors have shown their appetite for grand international gestures by backing a motion at the City Chambers formally recognising Palestine as an independent state. The symbolic gesture was proposed by the leader of the SNP group on the council Simita Kumar who said it was “long overdue”.
NEW REBUS: Coronation Street star Gray O’Brien will play Inspector Rebus in Ian Rankin’s latest stage adaptation of his beloved detective at the Festival Theatre in September. Rebus: A Game Called Malice, written by Rankin and Simon Reade, tells the story of a recently retired Rebus attending a New Town dinner party when events take a deadly turn. O’Brien played killer factory boss Tony Gordon in Coronation Street as well as appearing in Casualty, Peak Practice, and various theatre productions.
ARTS CASH CRISIS: Francesca Hegyi, chief executive of the Edinburgh International Festival, has urged the arts sector to rapidly build bridges with the corporate world. She said urgent action was needed due to the damage done to relations by the Baillie Gifford Book Festival controversy and the ongoing public funding squeeze.
NHS DATA BREACH: A 21-year-old woman has been charged following an apparent data breach at NHS Lothian which resulted in dozens of women being warned their medical records may have been viewed. Medical director Tracey Gillies said NHS routinely monitors confidential files to identify unauthorised access and investigate any suspected misuse.
JAIL WARNING: Former television presenter Hayley Matthews has been warned she faces jail after pleading guilty to embezzling £120,000 from her mother who had dementia. The 43-year-old ex-STV presenter took the money after being given power of attorney over her mother’s affairs, spending more than £13,000 on Amazon and more than £5,000 at the White Company.
CHANCELLOR STEPS DOWN: Dame Prue Leith CBE, TV personality, writer, restaurateur and cookery expert, is to step down from her position as Chancellor of Queen Margaret University. Chancellor since 2017, Prue will preside over her last graduation ceremonies, in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall today and tomorrow before officially concluding her term as Chancellor of QMU at the end of this calendar year.
CITY WIN BRONZE: Edinburgh City FC has eased concerns around the club’s future within the SPFL. The League 2 Club has received a “bronze” club licence - criteria that states clubs must adhere to specific stadium requirements, ground registration, pitch conditions and financial fair play. The club fell short of the required threshold before the end of last season, and received a period of grace to meet the regulations - that deadline being today.
CYCLING UP: The Leith Walk bike lane, which was described as the world’s worst by one cycling website, is proving a hit with cyclists. Daily users of the zig-zag path reached 1,812 in May compared to 802 two years previously.
FOODIE FEAST: Stockbridge is about to further refine its reputation for upmarket food with an M&S Foodhall set to open in the former Scotmid and Woolworths on Raeburn Place, while Civerinos will start selling pizza by the slice from the former Henri’s nearby.
THE BUSINESS
New deal values Edinburgh Airport at £2.5 billion
The role of Edinburgh International Airport as Scotland’s gateway has been reinforced with new investment by one of the world’s biggest private airport operators, French company Vinci, which has spent £1.27 billion to buy a 50.1% stake.
The money for a stake fractionally over half represents a tripling in value of the Airport in the 12 years since US-based Global Infrastructure Partners paid former owners BAA £807 million. GIP continues as co-owner with its stake of 49.9%.
The new investors have promised to support measures to reduce security queuing times – the main source of unhappiness amongst customers - and the existing management team led by Chief Executive Gordon Dewar will remain at the helm.
The deal is testament to the post-pandemic recovery made by the airport – already back to close to pre-covid levels when it was the fastest growing international airport in Europe. Passenger numbers were up 28% last year to 14.4 million and it is expected the numbers will surpass 2019 levels within the current year to complete a remarkable recovery.
While the airport continues to make progress, the curse of baggage handling continues. A broken belt was behind lengthy queues and delays at the airport in recent days. Here’s hoping the situation has resolved.
BIO WIN: Edinburgh-based OFI Bio, which develops products to grow and analyse bacteria, yeast and algae, has been selected to represent Scotland in the nationwide search for the best new tech businesses in the UK run by KPMG. The company will be part of the UK final which is due to be held in London next month.
WORK IN PROGRESS: The five-storey Hayweight House in Lauriston Street has been sold by the Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH). The successful purchaser is Whitebridge Ventures, which is bringing its new Kabannas brand – developing and repurposing non-prime offices as affordable hotel-style accommodation - to the capital.
PULSE TAKEN: The first UK “Pulse” store was opened by sportwear giant Adidas in Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh. The 11,000 square feet store gives shoppers the chance to buy a broad range of Adidas’ most popular products.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
COMPLETE MADNESS: Madness kick off this summer’s season of Castle Concerts on Friday. The following fortnight will see performances by JLS, the Manic Street Preachers and Suede, The National, Skippinish, Paul Weller and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra playing the music from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
EPIC ART: A series of monumental wall sculptures go on display at the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery in the biggest UK exhibition of one of Africa’s most acclaimed artists. Ghanaian artist’s El Anatsui epic wall hangings crafted from bottle tops alongside carved wooden reliefs and other works. The exhibition, entitled Scottish Mission Book Depot Keta, includes a 15-metre wall hanging that covers the facade of the Old College Quadrangle. The free to enter exhibition runs until 29 September.
TAPESTRY TOUR DE FORCE: Turner Prize-winner Chris Ofili’s magnificent tapestry The Caged Bird’s Song returns to the Dovecot Studios where it was created. It took the Dovecot’s master weavers three years to create the large scale work and this exhibition takes you inside the process of turning Ofili’s watercolour design into a beautiful tapestry. Entry costs £13.20 and the exhibition runs until 5 October.
QUICK BITES
HAPPY DAYS: Hollywood legend Henry Winkler, better known as The Fonz from the hit 1970s TV show Happy Days, was welcomed at top Edinburgh restaurant, the Michelin-starred The Kitchin. The 78-year-old - in the UK promoting his new book, Being Henry – met with chef Tom Kitchin and his team.
TWO PASTRY LIMIT: Instagram sensation Lannan Bakery in Stockbridge, recently named the world’s best new bakery by prestigious French Guide La Liste, has informed customers of new rules after an enormous growth in demand, with a limit of two pastries per customer - and no photography. You’ve been warned…