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8th March 2000
* Tony Blair has said that he does not intend to visit Ayr this week. He is here for the Labour Conference on Friday. Opponents say that it is an early admission that Labour will loose, however it could equally be seen as a move by the PM to distance himself from controlling Devolution.
* This move may be due to the phone poll carried out by Labour. It asked people in Ayr how well they fellt Blair was doing, dissapointing results must have followed.
* Labour are also having problems with the councils, they look set to limit the amout they can spend, through the amount given to them. South Ayrshire is warning of cuts. This is a local issue that wil be played hevily to voters in the closing week.
* Devolution is failing for Labour with Livingston standing as an Independent in London, it makes a rocky bed for Blair when he visits the country soon.
* There are problems for Labour in Hollyrood as well. Donald'd leadership is being critised from Labour backbench MP (in London). Almost unheard of in a By-election campaign. As independent MSP, Dennis Canavan said on Newsnight, Donald's "jacket is hanging by a shoogly nail" (Trans: "shoogly"=loose, wobbly)
* SNP support is growing. The latest poll from System 3 (See The Herald, links page). Puts support for the SNP neck and neck with Labour. Very damming news for an election campaign.
* Poling cards have gone out to the people of Ayr, awarness of the election is growing
* Section 28 is falling from national interest, but the camaping is still evident in Ayr. A meeting is going to be held on Thursday and last sat there was an "army" of keeptheclausers in the town. (Also: Pro-life alliance have stated they wish to extend S28 to cover helth boards).
* The tories now recognise that they must win it, and have admited that if they don't, they have little chance of a comeback, especially with so much on their side with Labour's difficulties
* The SSP candidate now has the support of Alex Smith, formally of the Labour Party (and MEP). He did want to be the canidate for Labour in December.
* South Ayrshire is to announce budget cuts of Ł5million, cutting services

3rd March

* Labour party look at Blair's performance to gague support in the election. In a telephone poll their main question to voters is 'How do you rate the performance of Tony Blairs government on a scale of 1 to 5". This seams to have littel to do with this election
* South Ayrshire Council face a budget surplus of up to Ł5m. This could lead to cuts and job losses. The blame either lies with the Executive or the council. As Rita Miller is a counciler and a candidate, she gets it both ways. This is something the Conservatives on the council will try and make the most of.
* Political corrospondets look at the likelyhood of a labour loss, on national issues. they claim that local issues are not firing through, although when council budgets come out next week, there culd be a change
* Hauge was in Troon last Moday to support his candidate
* Green party launch not to win, but to set an agenda and raise awareness of green issues. (The candidates view, not mine).

NEWS EVENTS

* Budgets are announced for local councils, with a decrease expected for South Ayrshire
* Labour Conference in Scotland makes a start.
* Keep the Clause are to have a meeting on Thursday
* PLATFORM on STV 11.30, 9th, with all 10 candidiates.

29th Feb *This from the Ayrshire Post "Section 28 continued to dominate much of the campaign with a poll indicating that it could or would influence the voting intentions of more than 40 per cent of those interviewed. It was also revealed that Stagecoach boss Brian Souter is set to visit the constituency to argue against Labour's plans to remove the clause. Elsewhere, Labour clashed with the Scottish Socialists and the Tories over the findings of the weekend polls. Labour candidate Rita Miller claimed the telephone poll confirmed it was a two-horse race but the SSP and Tory candidates maintained traditional Labour voters were deserting the party. Mr Salmond, meanwhile, insisted the SNP support was solid and moving in an upward direction, putting the party in a very strong position."
Ed Note: I feel that a visit by Mr Souter may be advised against. He already has critisism for his involment as he is not a candidiate and is affecting the agenda by using his money. Links for pro and anti repeal at the end.
* Bookmakers have put the SNP in second place, behind the Conservative but ahead of Labour. It show that already there may be signs of a strong challange.
* Phone polls are in full swing. They have being showing that Jobs, Pensions, Health and A77 are important.
* Green Party launch their campaign

Links for the Section 28 issue:
Anti-Repal: www.keeptheclause.co.uk
Pro-Repal: www.stonewall.org.uk

25th Feb

*All four main parties have had a high profile launch this week, details will be on the parties page on this site
*Opposition parties have accused the council of bias by allowing Labour to put p posters in the town early. They claim there was nothing illegal, but has not gone down well with the other parties
*Section 28 (see here ) is still a main issue in the campain. It is refferd to on the news and all party positions are related to the campaign and the wish to win votes. The 'Keep the Clause' campaign has put up posters in the town and are activley collecting signitures
*Where are the Natural Law Party? There were supposed to field a candidate, but the final announcement showed that there was none - the money will be spent on a web page instead.