SURF’s panel featured Andy Wigthman (Green) & Johanna Boyd (Labour)
SURF produced a Manifesto for Regeneration and promoted it to the main political parties in advance of the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections. We debated the manifesto with representatives of Scotland’s main political parties in a hustings-style event on the afternoon of Thursday 7 April in CoSLA Conference Centre, Edinburgh.
More than 50 SURF network colleagues took part in a lively and engaging open discussion with topics including housing supply, regional regeneration support mechanisms, the planning system, local government powers and citizens’ income. The political party participants were (a-z by surname):
Marco Biagi MSP, Scottish National Party – Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment
Willie Black, RISE – Party Spokesperson for Regeneration
Cllr Johanna Boyd, Labour – Leader of Stirling Council and candidate for the Mid Scotland and Fife region
Iain McGill, Conservative – Scottish Policy Board Member and candidate for the Lothian region and the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency
Martin Veart, Liberal Democrats – Candidate for Edinburgh Northern and Leith
Andy Wightman, Scottish Green Party – Party Spokesperson for Communities, Local Government & Land Reform, elected as an MSP for the Lothian region in 2016
UKIP were also invited but did not provide a representative.
SURF produced a video of the debate, available below and on our YouTube channel, as well as a transcript publication and podcast, which can be downloaded by clicking on the following links:
Scottish Regeneration Question Time Transcript (PDF, 35 pages)
Scottish Regeneration Question Time Podcast – Part 1 of 2 (MP3, 51 mins)
Scottish Regeneration Question Time Podcast – Part 2 of 2 (MP3, 57 mins)
