Gordon Buchan
- Name:
- Gordon Buchan
- Party:
- Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party
- Constituency:
- Edinburgh South
- Election result May 2003:
- 5180 votes (16.60%), third of five candidates
- Election literature available in Aspect:
-
- Election policy statement:
- As a local resident, the issues that concern you are those that also concern me. I know the area and the issues that affect us all. To date, the Scottish Parliament's performance has been disappointing and expensive.
There is another way. Vote Tory for a Change.
Only the Conservatives offer a programme of decentralising reform to reduce the scope of government and to give back power to parents and local communities.
The Scottish Parliament isn't working. Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP all offer the same left of centre consensus of ideas and inaction which is failing Scotland. Their common mantra of higher taxes and more red tape is the ongoing problem in Scotland. It is time to do something about it.
Only the Tories are offering real change, because we are different.
We are concentrating on the issues that matter to you. Making our communities safer through improved policing, getting Edinburgh moving again without the need to raise a toll tax and giving people real choice in education and health provision.
The next Scottish Conservative government will put common sense first and create a Scottish Parliament that will work on the issues that matter. We need this change and the only way the Scottish Parliament can get better is to get more Tories into it. Use your vote positively and vote for change - Vote Tory!
More officers and safer streets
Our police officers are stretched to the limit by rising crime. People are becoming afraid, even in their own homes. There is an increasing fear of the effects of drugs across the constituency from Gilmerton to Merchiston. We have seen instances of arson in Sciennes and Marchmont and rising levels of car crime.
I want to see more officers on the beat. I want people to feel secure and I support zero tolerance measures against antisocial behaviour so that we can halt the cycle of crime. Unlike the politically correct Labour and Lib Dem parties I will put the victims, not the perpetrators of crime, first. Drugs should not be tolerated in our community and those who deal in them will be made to face the seriousness of their crime.
We need to make Edinburgh safer for everyone. Vote Tory for that change.
Getting our city moving
We do not need tolls to sort out transport in our City. Significant improvements in public transport have occurred in Manchester, Sheffield and Croydon without road tolls being imposed there. Why should Edinburgh South be different? If Labour can fund improvements in other areas, why not the South of the Capital? This May you can stop Labour / Lib Dems Tolls at the Polls. Vote Tory to ensure there are no tolls imposed on you.
Labour's rail watchdogs have sabotaged improvement works at Waverley station that would allow new lines to the south to be built. I support the reopening of the South Suburban Railway. I want to see improved "park and ride" schemes operating, not at the city boundary, but where commuters live and I will press the Scottish Parliament to fund these. I want our streets and pavements to be properly maintained and will seek improvements in road safety to assist residents, especially the elderly and disabled.
Cutting government down to size
Before devolution, we had five ministers running Scotland's affairs. Now we have over 20 doing much the same job. The size of the civil service has grown at an alarming rate.
We have 129 MSPs, 72 MPs, 8 MEPs and thousands of councillors. It's time to cut their numbers, I support the Boundary Commission in reducing the numbers of MPs. I want to see this cut applied to MSPs as well.
Holyrood will cost at least £380 million. Each window has cost £19,000. The reception desk will cost £88,000. Only the Tories have opposed this waste of money. "Follyrood" is costing us around £2 million per week! That is a national disgrace and I want an investigation held, with the results fully disclosed.
Scotland needs a change in government. The next Conservative government will reduce the numbers of politicians and ministers in Scotland and cut wasteful, unnecessary expenditure.
Improving our public services
The health service is failing the very people that it is supposed to be helping. Waiting lists are getting longer and the solemn Labour \ Lib Dem promise made four years ago of shorter waiting lists has been broken. Labour and the Lib Dems have shown that throwing cash at the problem is not the answer. (Scotland spends more on health per head of population than does England but our waiting lists are longer!).
Our health service needs reform - to give people the security of guaranteed access to high quality care and real choice about the treatment they should receive. The Conservatives will devolve power to GPs so that they have the freedom to buy all the health care on behalf of their patients whether from the public or the private sector. And in a further reduction of the bureaucracy within the health service, we will transform hospitals into foundation hospitals which can respond flexibly to patients' needs.
Improving education
The "one size fits all" education policy of Labour and the Lib Dems has failed Scotland. There is a huge gulf between the best and the worst performing schools. Lack of discipline is a real issue as is the record of 1 in 4 children leaving school without being able to read or write to an acceptable standard.
Scottish Conservatives will raise the standards and opportunities for all within an educational system that caters for the needs of each child. We will give parents real choice, with a range of schools. We will support a major expansion of specialist schools to provide a system proven to have raised standards. All schools will be given the freedom to set their own priorities including discipline.
Conservatives will also pursue changes in higher and further education, helping those who wish to study practical skills to attend further education colleges. Universities should only admit students on the basis of proven ability and not by reference to social class.
Stop Tolls at the Polls
GORDON BUCHAN has listened to your concerns about the Labour / Lib Dem road tolls.
As a local resident, Gordon knows the impact that these unfair tolls will have on the city and has constantly opposed them. Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MSPs have all backed the road toll bill on two separate occasions in the Scottish Parliament.
Gordon said, "There is no justification for these tolls. They were first presented as an environmental measure, but at £2 per day, people made it clear that they would not be deterred from using their cars. Labour and their Lib Dem allies then tried to push the toll tax as a way of financing trams and other public transport improvements in the capital. This argument failed when the Labour Government funded a new tram link for Manchester without requiring that Council to raise road tolls"
A transport consultant by profession, Gordon knows the impact that this measure will have. "The toll will not reduce car use in Edinburgh. It is simply a new tax, nothing else, and the Lib Dem, Labour and SNP MSPs cannot hide from that fact. They want to tax you more and, as we all know, we will get nothing in return, just as happens with our increasing Council Tax."
Scottish Tories have opposed road tolls from day one. Gordon supports the re-opening of the South Suburban Railway and other rail projects in the City through Central and Scottish Government funding. Gordon will also lobby Edinburgh Council to spend what it should on roads and pavements - not the current under spend on the roads budget by nearly £10 million.
Transport policy in Edinburgh needs a change, not a toll. Vote Tory for that change and stop tolls at the polls.
Gordon Buchan pledges
1. Employ more police officers and make our streets safer
2. Oppose road tolls and improve our transport options
3. Cut the cost of Parliament and reduce the numbers of MSPs
4. Put patients first in the NHS
Gordon Buchan Your Force for Change
- Personal details used in election:
- I live in Edinburgh South and having graduated from Napier University, now work locally for an international firm of consulting engineers. At 28, I am a Vice Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party and contested Edinburgh South in the last General Election.
As Secretary of Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council and Editor of the "In Touch" local newsletter, I have supported local residents throughout the constituency on issues that have concerned them, proving my commitment to the area.
I have successfully campaigned for a number of causes in the south of the capital, demonstrating that I would be an effective, hard working and sensible member of the Scottish Parliament.
Gordon Buchan
Gordon Buchan (28) lives in Edinburgh South. A graduate of Napier University, he now works for a firm of consulting engineers, specialising in transport planning.
Gordon contested Edinburgh South in the last General Election and stood in the subsequent Prestonfield by-election. He is a Vice-Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party and is recognised as a rising star in Scottish politics.
Gordon is Secretary of his local Community Council . His work over the years in support of local residents on issues that have concerned them is evidence of his continuing commitment to the constituency.
His interests outside politics include walking, music, reading, the cinema and steam railways.