Election / On the campaign trail with Lib Dem candidate who ‘wants to make things better’
AT ONE point during Shetland News’ trip around Whalsay door-knocking with Liberal Democrat candidate Emma Macdonald she puts Journey’s classic song Don’t Stop Believin’ on the car speaker.
As the iconic keyboard intro kicks in, she describes it as an “inspirational” campaign tune – and as things heat up ahead of polling day this week, perhaps most candidates could take strength from the sentiments of the lyrics.
As part of a series of features with every Shetland election candidate we are joining Macdonald on the campaign trail less than a week to go before polling day, heading to an island where fishing, ferries and tunnels are usually among the hot topics.
As the ferry to Whalsay drifts away from Laxo, you can see the Viking turbines on the mainland swish in and out of view as the Linga gently bobs up and down, side to side on her passage to the Bonnie Isle.
It is a case of swapping one industry for another – energy to fishing – as the ferry pulls up at Symbister in the shadow of the island’s large trawlers, the Charisma.
It is around 11am on Friday, and the first engagement is a trip to a busy coffee morning at the Symbister Hall, where there are fancies-a-plenty in what ends up being possibly one of the most sugary brunches imaginable.
Given the party’s political hold over Shetland since 1950, it is no doubt a fair bit easier to walk unannounced into a coffee morning as a Lib Dem than say a Green, or a Reform candidate, and Macdonald is quickly greeted by a few locals showing support and offering good luck.
The home bakes get the thumbs up too; she should know what makes a good fancy, given she was used to be the owner of Emma Louise’s coffee shop in Lerwick.
And so to the door knocking. The aim of the game today is to try to catch people who were out last time they were here, and Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael is elsewhere in Whalsay in something of a double-pronged Lib Dem attack.
We are car sharing in Whalsay, and Macdonald jumps in the back near to the half-drunk can of energy drink Monster, and a spare diamond-shaped Lib Dem lamppost sign, as her friend and campaign helper starts the engine.
Macdonald is quick to get on her campaign playlist, and as someone who is known for attending country concerts, has travelled overseas to see Pitbull and has a ticket to see Metallica this summer with her husband, Shetland News is not quite sure what to expect.
The first tune? That honour goes to Nirvana’s grunge classic Smells Like Teen Spirit, followed by the country song Let’s Go to Vegas.
Things get off to a bit of a false start, with no answer at the first house. But we’re invited into the second home, with the man – in a bid to get a reaction – quickly joking with a smile that he is a “complete Tory”.
As the jokes settle down, he says he is undecided but was just keen to keep the SNP out – and by the time Macdonald leaves she has got him pledging his support to vote Lib Dem.
There is not much luck at some of the other nearby houses, but Macdonald does manage to exchange a hello with children outside in the school grounds.
After another ‘no answer’, and one couple who have already voted by post, it is back in the car – although we pull over for a chat about how the campaign has gone so far.
“I think we’ve had a really positive campaign,” she says, adding that the team have tried to reach places outside the areas of larger population.
“We’ve worked really hard to make sure we have spent a lot of time out speaking to people – we’ve had good conversations, and people have always been really pleased to see us.
“I think campaigns are hard, not just for the candidate, but also for their family and their friends and everybody around them. So, I think it’s really important that you try and keep the energy up.
“We’re pretty positive in our outlook in life, and I think that helps.”
She says that until the last six weeks she had been working full-time in her job as Shetland Islands Council leader, with depute Gary Robinson stepping up more recently.
One increasing critique of the Lib Dem campaign from opponents is that it is focused on attacking the SNP’s record, and their quest for Scottish independence.
Macdonald – who has represented the Shetland North ward in her councillor day job since 2017 – said it has only one element of leaflet communication, adding that the Lib Dems are focused on things like a new Gilbert Bain hospital, tunnels, the cost of living, energy prices and education.
“Most of the conversations I’ve had on the doors have not been about people really wanting the big, complicated things dealt with – it’s actually the things that make their day to day life better, and that’s what Lib Dems do.
“The back page of some of our leaflets have laid out some of the challenges around the SNP government, but that’s just the reality of what we’ve had for the last 19 years.”
The SNP came within 800-or-so votes of the Liberal Democrats last time around in Shetland in 2021, with Beatrice Wishart narrowly trumping Tom Wills.
Much of the chatter this time around is whether the SNP’s Hannah Mary Goodlad could oversee a power shift in Shetland politics in what has always been regarded as a Lib Dem stronghold.
But back to the doors, and as Macdonald hands over a leaflet she tells one undecided woman that she is keen to continue the “good work” of Wishart in Holyrood.
Another door knock leads to a discussion on a range of issues, from supporting small businesses to childcare and the education system. And to tunnels too, which has been pushed as a key issue for the Scottish Lib Dems not just local but nationally.
When asked about tunnels in the car earlier, Macdonald had argued that a party outwith government has leverage “if you use it well” in budget negotiations.
She said Shetland Islands Council has moved forward on tunnel discussions, adding that she would take her existing “good relationships with government” into parliament if elected as MSP.
“Having an opposition party holding the government to account and making sure that Shetland’s voice is heard clearly, has a real benefit,” she said.
When questioned if a “seat at the table” in government would be beneficial for Shetland – like what the local SNP campaign has been suggesting – Macdonald said this has not played out in the Western Isles, where there is an SNP MSP.
“We also have [Highlands and Islands] list MSPs, who are supposed to represent Shetland, so effectively they should also have a seat at the table, so I think it is a little bit of a false message,” she added.
As the door knocking continues, Macdonald is keen to stress that she does not want to be a pushy candidate out on the campaign trail, and would prefer to leave people with a positive impression.
Explaining her move into the council and potentially to the Scottish Parliament, the former social care worker says she went into politics to “make things better”.
“I think politicians should be normal people who are part of the community, who maybe don’t have fancy backgrounds but are actually people who just want to make things better and who want to raise the voices of people who maybe don’t have a voice,” Macdonald says.
“My life hasn’t always been simple, and I’ve had challenging times and done many different jobs, but I think that life experience and being able to remember what it feels like for life to be hard, means that I use that in my politics.”
So what drew her into party politics? She says being an independent elected councillor can be an “isolating place to be”, and felt the time was right to explore joining a party.
As we rack up more steps around houses in Whalsay, there are a couple of no answers, before a man appears from his car as he returns home.
He sounds pretty undecided, but there is no uncertainty in his view that he is happy “as long as the SNP don’t get in”.
With a ferry to catch we part ways, with Macdonald sticking around in Whalsay for a little while yet.
Whether she sets sail to Edinburgh in the coming weeks remains to be seen – but Macdonald, as well as other candidates, likely won’t stop believing until the election results are announced on Friday.
There are seven more candidates contesting the Shetland seat. They are in alphabetical order: Alex Armitage (Greens), Douglas Barnett (Conservatives), Vic Currie (Reform UK), John Erskine (Labour), Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP), Brian Nugent (Alliance to Liberate Scotland) and Peter Tait (independent).
Shetland News has now run features on each candidate in the run up to the vote on 7 May. You can read these at the links below:
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