BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003


CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
Johann Lamont	LAB	9357	43.4	-0.3
Tommy Sheridan	SSP	6016	27.9	+6.4
Kenny Gibson	SNP	4118	19.1	-6.8
Ashraf Anjum	CON	1012	4.7	-0.6
Isabel Nelson	LD	962	4.5	+0.9
Robert Ray	PE	73	0.3	+0.3

	MAJORITY	3341	15.5
	TURNOUT	21538	45.7


ELECTORATE	47134

DESCRIPTION: Glasgow Pollok

Half of Pollok Park and the world-renowned Burrell Collection are found here, but open green space is thin on the ground as council estates occupy much of the territory. Social deprivation and poor housing are serious problems in areas such as Nitshill, Priesthill, Arden and Corkerhill. The controversy over the transfer of the city's housing stock to the private sector may be an issue here, as will continuing high levels of unemployment, though there have been some recent jobs boosts in the call-centre sector.

Pollok has been regarded as among the safest Labour seats in Scotland, but it is the heartland of Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan, who came third in 1999, before going on to win a seat via the Glasgow regional list. Johann Lamont, well-known for her old Labour credentials, won the seat for Labour in 1999 with a respectable 17.8% majority over the SNP's Kenny Gibson (another regional winner). She went on to become convener of the parliament's social justice committee. The SSP will mount a strong challenge.

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