Letters / Use your vote wisely
We are close to election day. The flurry of increasingly desperate letters has started appearing in the local news outlets and social media from the few usual suspects representing the Liberal Democrats in Shetland and on the mainland. I can understand why they are sounding worried.
The Liberal Democrat campaign during this election has been lacklustre to say the least. It has been devoid of ideas, lacking in imagination and substance and utterly negative.
The candidate must have her own opinions, surely, but it looks from the outside that she is quite content to let her minder, Alistair Carmichael, do all the talking for her.
I think the electorate in Shetland can see through all this. They see a candidate who comes across as not being able to stand up for herself, never mind stand up for the people of Shetland.
How would she fare in the hurly burly of Holyrood, where she would need her to be strong and vocal? The truth is the Liberal Democrats struggle to have any impact at all in the Scottish Parliament.
We have seen this ever since Tavish Scott left his post mid-term. Electing another Lib Dem MSP in Shetland is going to leave us without robust representation, exactly when we need it.
This cannot go on indefinitely, so a change of thinking is required. Hannah Mary Goodlad is exactly the type of person we need in Edinburgh.
She’s no blaet, she’s articulate, capable and experienced.
She’s also approachable and willing to listen. She is, in short, the best candidate on the ballot paper by a country mile. We all know this, so it’s time to grasp the nettle, vote for her and give her the chance.
To vote Lib Dem would be accepting second best, and to vote Green would be accepting second best by the back door. Use your vote wisely.
Iain Malcolmson
South Nesting
