Glasgow Correspondent – Carrick Crawford

In the morning Charlie Baillie and his team visited Royston. We managed to leaflet most of the area including the high rise flats. Royston was previously known as Garngad and is still known as such by residents with a familial link to the area. It is notable for its large population of Irish Catholic descent, and a high level of deprivation. The British National Party is proud to be non-sectarian and is making huge efforts to be seen as such but unfortunately the sight of the Union Flag as part of our leaflet’s BNP logo was enough to attract unsavoury attention from some of the local unemployed youth. Nevertheless, we succeeded in bringing our message to their area and letting them know we are willing to represent their community.

We had a great response in Dennistoun where we spent the whole afternoon. Although predominantly tenemental, the Victorian villas and terraces to the west (towards the city centre) established the area as a respectable working class area for families. Its proximity to the city centre and to Strathclyde and Caledonian universities, has contributed to its gentrification in recent years; many of its residents are now students and young professionals.

We split into three smaller teams and after a hard working leafleting session around both the flats and villas, we stopped for a well deserved tea break in Coia’s Café in Duke Street. This café has long established roots in the area since 1928 and is fondly remembered by Charlie, when, as a boy, he was taken there every now and then for a treat by his parents.

Whilst relaxing, we were spotted by a film crew and reporter from Channel 4 who asked to film us and also granted Charlie a short interview. We also noticed the SNP candidate, David Kerr, was in the area, driving around in his SNP coloured Mini!

After refreshments, we returned to the streets, talking to people and giving out leaflets near Golfhill School before turning towards Alexandra Parade shopping area, where we gave out the remainder, both inside local shops and outside. Charlie greeted many residents who shook his hand and wished us well. At the end of the day, Charlie reported our day’s efforts back to Nick Griffin, who we are hoping can make the effort to return to Glasgow for the final week of our campaign.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped out today and remind everyone again to try their best to spare a day to come out and help Charlie in our final week of action. We are hoping for a real breakthrough for the party in Scotland in this high profile by-election, as we are seen now as a credible alternative to both the SNP and the locally despised Labour.