Sheila Gilmore used to be the Labour MP for Edinburgh East and she returns to contest the seat again.
Ms Gilmore told The Edinburgh Reporter : “I think there are massive problems that we need to resolve in this country and in this city.
“Housing, for example, is a huge problem I’ve had a great interest in over the years, and it’s getting worse, it’s not getting better.
“I do quite a bit of volunteering. I volunteer for the Citizens Advice Bureau, for example which brings me in touch with a lot of the issues that people have because we deal with debt, we deal with benefit issues. I do quite a lot of social security tribunals myself. We deal with employment issues – people with really poor employment conditions being paid off without any holiday pay, not getting their proper pay.
“As it is a general election, actually people are quite interested in the the bigger issues bit less Brexit at the moment than it was a few months ago. Independence is a big issue. A lot of people are not happy about the idea of moving to yet another round of having a referendum and disrupting for the country.
“I think a lot of people feel that they’ve seen with Brexit, just how difficult it is to unravel a union.
“And they don’t want to be going there again.
“In terms of local issues, I think a lot just depends on on people’s personal experiences clearly. But lack of social care is an issue for many families. I also meet a lot of carers who are struggling to do the job as well as they would like because of the financial constraints they are under.
“At the other end of the scale parents tend to be very interested in educational issues. I mean, I’ve still got very strong interest in building a better social security system for people, because I think a lot of damage has been done to in recent years.
“Obviously, housing is more of a devolved issue, but on the other hand, it’s very strongly related to how much finance you can actually put into it because affordable housing has to be subsidised.
“So therefore relies on good government funding. And that’s something I think is absolutely crucial.
“I think in this election know that we have a fairly clear position of what we would do in the event of being in government that we would move to renegotiate. And then there will be a referendum.
“Personally, I would be supporting remain. I think over the last couple of years, I think it has been difficult. I think we often underestimate just how divided the country is not just politicians, and even in Edinburgh there are a fair number of people who voted leave who are unhappy with everybody, actually, I think!”
Edinburgh East candidates 2019
GILMORE, Sheila – Scottish Labour Party
MILLER, Claire Helen Innes – Scottish Green Party
PRICE, Eleanor Margaret Louise – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
REILLY, Jill Mary – Scottish Liberal Democrats
SHEPPARD, Tommy – Scottish National Party (SNP)
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