Meet the candidates for Glasgow Kelvin

Here are your candidates and what they represent.

KAUKAB STEWART (SNP)

Over the past 30 years I have worked as a teacher in communities right across Scotland. I currently live with my family in the west end of Glasgow.

My first hand experience of Scottish education and my determination to tackle child poverty puts me in a really strong position to make a difference as an MSP.

Voters in Glasgow Kelvin voted YES in 2014 and overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. The next MSP for this constituency has a duty to stand up for the people who live here. Only the SNP can put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.

As someone who lives in Glasgow Kelvin, I understand the issues that we face here. Over the last 14 years, the SNP has built almost 100,000 new affordable homes including some of those you might have seen in Anderston and Partick. That’s not a bad start, but I know we need to do more. That’s why, at this election, the SNP is committing to building an additional 100,000 homes with 70% for social rent.

A vote for the SNP on 6 May is a vote for continued strong leadership from Nicola Sturgeon, a bold policy agenda and to make sure Scotland's future is Scotland’s choice.

PAM DUNCAN-GLANCY (Labour)

My name is Pam. I work full time in the NHS, and I’ve been in a wheelchair since I was five. People thought I wouldn't be able to stand up by myself, so I made it my business to stand up for other people. I'm asking for the chance to do that in Parliament.

The last year has been tough for all of us. Truth is though, that for too many people, things were hard before COVID. We cannot go back to normal, we have to end poverty and inequality, create good, unionised jobs, rescue education, and rebuild the NHS. 

This election has to be about delivering a national recovery that does all of that.

We are in the fight of our lives. We’ll need people in Parliament who know what it's like to fight. People with grit and guts – backed by a party willing to act.  That is who I am and who Scottish Labour are. If people in Glasgow send me to parliament, they will have someone fighting their corner everyday. The opportunity to serve, is all I ask.

GRAHAME CANNELL (Conservatives)

I am proud to be standing in Glasgow Kelvin. It is an area I love to call home and I would be honoured to be elected as the next MSP for this wonderful constituency.

As we look beyond the pandemic, we must be completely focused on our recovery. Glasgow Kelvin has a vast array of businesses and communities that have been hugely affected by the virus and we must do everything to support them as they rebuild.

The last thing this constituency needs is the nationalists holding another divisive independence referendum and dragging us back to the politics of division.

Instead, I want us to be bold and ambitious for this area. As someone who was fortunate enough to gain an apprenticeship in this city, I am very excited by Scottish Conservative plans to deliver demand-led unlimited apprenticeships. These plans will help many people into sustainable jobs and help drive our economic recovery.

Education is also a passion of mine. Having studied abroad, I want to use that first-hand experience and restore Scotland’s world-class education system. The SNP have failed miserably in reducing the attainment gap. We would recruit 3000 teachers for our classrooms and implement a national tutoring programme.

A vote for me is a guaranteed focus on rebuilding our communities, rather than trying to break them up.

PATRICK HARVIE (Greens)

I’ve lived and worked in Glasgow Kelvin for many years. It is one of the most creative, diverse and energetic parts of Scotland. But it is also one that has been hit hard by the pandemic. 

I want to ensure a fairer, greener recovery for Kelvin with secure, well-paid local jobs, particularly in hospitality, retail, universities and colleges, where far too many are struggling in insecure and underpaid work.

We need action on housing, and I will work hard to make the case for proper rent controls, investment in tenement repairs, and grants for warmer, greener homes. We also need to take asylum housing and support out of the hands of private profiteers. 

Throughout my time as an MSP for Glasgow I have been proud to secure changes that have improved the lives of people across this city, like protecting our Subway, banning winter evictions throughout the pandemic, free school meals for primary school children and free bus travel for everyone under 22, starting this summer.

It’s time to elect a Green MSP for Kelvin who can lead the fight for urgent action on the climate crisis, a green recovery, and an independent Scotland in Europe.

DAVID MCKENZIE (LIB DEMS)

I'm standing to be the first Liberal Democrat MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, having just turned 30 I'm the youngest candidate standing in the constituency. I was born and raised in Greenock, I left school aged 16 to pursue a career in the technology industry with Hewlett Packard in Erskine.

Glasgow Kelvin holds a very special place in my heart, I met my fiancée at the Old Hairdresser’s Bar in the city centre. In the winter I used to train 60m sprints at Kelvin Hall and I used to go boxing with my friends on Sunday’s at the Griphouse on Possil Road.

 I'm aware of the positive benefits the Scottish Parliament can achieve, especially for young people. My career is the direct result of investment made by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition from 1999-2007.

I was eight years old when the Scottish Parliament first sat but in the last decade, I've seen the opportunities I was provided fall away for future generations. I now want to return home to make sure we come out of this pandemic with a positive progressive path for Scotland.