Stewart Whyte
- Name:
- Stewart Whyte
- Party:
- Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
- Constituency:
- Banff and Buchan
- Election result May 2003:
- 5463 votes (20.89%), second of six candidates
- Election literature available in Aspect:
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- Election policy statement:
- The SNP have run Banff and Buchan for 16 years. No one can possibly say the place is in a better state than it was in the mid-80s.
How many shop and businesses have closed on the high streets of our towns and villages? How many of our young people have had to move away to find employment? There is unquestionably less money in the area.
It would be unfair to say that the SNP has been responsible for all our ills but, I don't believe it is completely a coincidence either.
The SNP take a negative and dogmatic attitude to everything that arises and this only gets the backs up of people in power.
It is time for a more intelligent style of politics.
It is time to give Stewart Whyte the opportunity to lead us in a new direction.
Vote Conservative For A Change
Stewart Whyte
"I spent my childhood in Banff and Buchan.
We face huge challenges: it is not overstating the case to say that unless we take some serious action now the area as we know it will be finished. I'm not just talking about fishing, as serious as that is, farming income continues to struggle and oil and gas are in decline.
I firmly believe our situation can be turned around and that future generations will have the good fortune to grow up in Banff and Buchan. However we have to dig deep and to work together."
Stewart Whyte says:
I owe Banff and Buchan a great deal. My formative years were spent here and my first teaching post was at Fraserburgh. Now it is my turn to give something back. My priorities are standing up for ordinary people, saving jobs, supporting local businesses, cutting taxes and tougher sentences for criminals. The Scottish Parliament has been a huge disappointment over its first four years. It has wasted excessive amounts of time on issues like Section 28, banning fox hunting and banning smacking, while failing to tackle ordinary people's concerns such as education, crime and the health service. The complete failure to look after taxpayers money on the Holyrood building has been a disgrace and spending £88,000 on a desk was deeply offensive. Taxpayers must get value for money.
Stewart Whyte says:
Protecting all jobs and local businesses is one of my key interests, however our fishing industry faces special problems. Macduff, Banff, Fraserburgh, Peterhead and the many coastal villages will be finished if we don't save the fishing industry. We simply must leave the Common Fisheries Policy: it has failed utterly and is completely beyond reform. No business can survive on only 15 working days a month and the current deal is putting lives at risk. There are many talented people in the white fish, pelagic and prawn fleets as well as successful processors and innovative suppliers. It is time to take back control of our seas. We can save our fishing industry and we can save our coastal communities - it just requires political will. I am determined that the coastal towns and villages of my youth will not die.
Stewart Whyte says:
As a teacher I will bring specialist knowledge to education, one of the key areas of responsibility in the Scottish Parliament. We need to tackle discipline and improve standards, so that our young people are ready to take their place in society. So far Holyrood has performed woefully for rural Banff and Buchan. We need politicians who will fight as hard for our farmers as they do in France and Germany. Not only will I champion farming but also the whole rural way of life. The other parties are very quick to spend your money but they fail to understand that you need to create wealth before it can be spent. We will reintroduce the Uniform Business Rate and provide a level playing field for local businesses. I will fight for Banff and Buchan not because it is my job but, because I know just how much it is worth fighting for.
Stewart Whyte says:
The number one priority for the next term of the Scottish Parliament has to be the economy. Jobs and prosperity are at the heart of the Government's responsibilities. We all understand the harm that politicians have done to the Fishing Industry in Banff and Buchan, The perilous state of the entire Scottish economy is less well known. Jobs in all sectors of the economy are under real threat unless we become serious about business. The Government must put the economy at the heart of everything it does. Transport, taxation, and regulation must all be refocused towards promoting employment. A strong economy is the foundation for a strong society where we can look after the frail and vulnerable. I want to see an end to poverty. The first step towards that is the self-respect gained from getting up everyday, going to work and making your way in life.
Stewart Whyte says:
It is time that the Parliament got to grips with the Health Service. Huge amounts of taxpayers' money have been thrown at it, yet it has actually deteriorated since Labour and Lib-Dems took over. They interfered for party political motivations. Their appalling waiting lists pledge saw patients with quick, easy and relatively minor complaints being treated before more serious conditions just so that statistics could be knocked down. It is time to put doctors and nurses, the people who really know about the NHS, back in charge and let them, not politicians, decide how best to care for patients. It is also time that MSPs looked after rural Scotland. They displayed terrible weakness in not standing up to France over its illegal ban on British Beef. I am a farmer's son and I will champion rural Banff and Buchan.
Stewart Whyte says:
There is no getting away from it, the Scottish Parliament has been a massive disappointment over the last four years. It has wasted huge amounts of time on relatively trivial issues, while ducking the real issues of the economy, the NHS, education and crime. The Parliament has also had a cavalier attitude towards spending taxpayers' money. Holyrood's failings can be explained in part by the strangle-hold that left-wing parties have had on it (110 out of the 129 MSPs) but, also by the low quality of so many of the actual MSPs. Too many of them are party hacks, incapable of thinking for themselves: the Scottish Parliament will never improve until we change the current MSPs. The Referendum result was overwhelming; the Scottish Parliament will not be scrapped. It is the duty of everyone in Scotland to make it work. The next four years must focus on the people's needs and not the politicians.
Don't let the SNP make things worse in our corner of Scotland.
The SNP have two main policies summed up in their slogan 'Independence in Europe'. The first part means more powers to a Central Belt Parliament that neither understands nor cares about our part of Scotland.
The second part is even worse. Europe has been in charge of two industries: fishing and farming - the traditional mainstays of Banff and Buchan. They've ruined fishing and farming's not much better. Crazily the SNP want to take us further into Europe and their support for the Euro is very dangerous.
The choice could not be clearer. Either, a pro-Independence, pro-European Nationalist or a local Conservative who will allow nothing to stand in the way of the regeneration of Banff and Buchan.
I will fight for Banff and Buchan not because it is my job, but because I know just how much it is worth fighting for.
- Personal details used in election:
- Stewart Whyte grew up on farms in Crudie, Aberchirder and Boyndie. His grandparents lived in Portsoy and his family now stay at Alvah.
Stewart Whyte attended Banff Academy and studied history at Aberdeen University, followed by teacher training course at Northern College. His first teaching position was at Fraserburgh Academy in the mid-90s.
He currently teaches History and RME at Aboyne Academy in rural Aberdeenshire.