- Name – Adam McVey
- Political Party SNP
- Ward Leith
What is your story?
I love Edinburgh and love living in Leith. For the last ten years it’s been a privilege to represent people in Leith Ward, fighting for my constituents and delivering real improvements for our community. For the last five of those years I’ve also been Leader of Council, driving an agenda of fighting poverty, tackling climate change and investing in our local services.
What are the main issues you will campaign on?
This election is a crucial decision point for Edinburgh, the stakes couldn’t be higher. We need to tackle climate change and fight against poverty. The Tory UK Government have deliberately pushed thousands of our children into poverty with decisions like the universal credit cut and failed to deliver at COP26- so it’s up to us. We will build the new Council homes we desperately need and delivery on the climate agenda, investing in public transport, making the City safer to walk, wheel and cycle and invest record levels in education. Our young people are relying on us to secure their future, I know we can deliver for them, building a fairer, greener and better Edinburgh.
What do you consider to be your or your party’s achievements or legacy during the last council session?
We are ambitious for our capital and want to continue to make progress for Edinburgh. We have worked hard for our residents in the last five years, delivering eight new schools and investing £170 million in our existing schools, upgrading classrooms and facilities and giving every student from p6 and up an iPad to make digital learning equal across the entire city.
We’ve improvement management of public services like parks, planted 50,000 trees, signed a £1.3 billion City Region deal, kicked off the £1 billion Bioquarter and begun delivering a world-class Granton development- all delivering tens of thousands of new jobs for people here in Edinburgh.
We’ve delivered more than 5,500 affordable homes built- despite the construction challenges of Brexit and Covid, built a new outstanding Meadowbank Sports Centre, kept the tram extension within budget and due for construction to finish this year, and changed national law to more-effectively tackle short term lets.
I could go on and on, but the thing I’m proudest most of is leading our city through a global pandemic. While I’m sure I didn’t get every decision right, this was a task I hope nobody ever has to repeat. We kept our residents as safe as possible, supported as much as possible, our NHS as protected as much as possible and as many of our businesses surviving and thriving as possible with £280 million in grants paid out. The city has come out of this dreadful pandemic strong, and this is in large part due to the work of our council.
What is the thing that few people would know about you?
Last year I became an Ambassador for White Ribbon Scotland, a charity that focuses on tacking violence against women and girls by getting men to tackle behaviour among their own peers. I’ve been aware of the charity since I shared an office in Edinburgh with them while at Amnesty International and I’m more aware than ever that if we’re to rid our City and society of violence against women and girls, it’s how we raise our sons, not how much we warn our daughters.
