Hugh Findlay is standing as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate.
Hugh Findlay is Chair of Edinburgh Conservatives representing the membership. The Chair and other office holders are elected by the members and it is his responsibility to make sure the campaigns that they run and the candidates are well supported.
He is a politics graduate, and a consultant in business and technology, designing solutions to meet customer needs in the digital world explaining: “The core part of my job is sitting down with people, understanding what they need and helping deliver that. Whether that is in a business or at the council it is the same set of skills.”
He set out his reasons for standing. He said: “I think, as we saw, the by election was triggered by the fact that the compensation scheme that was proposed for Roseburn yet again wasn’t delivered. It was something I stood on in May last year, something I was very passionate about, and going round the doors it is something that people are rightly furious about.
“So I want to see that get over the line.”
Asked about the affordability of a compensation scheme, Findlay pointed out that there is already an allocation of funds proposed by the former Conservative councillor, Scott Douglas. He said: “I want to see Cllr Douglas’s motion that was put to council last year revived. The money would come out of the central government support scheme for Covid. A lot of that wasn’t allocated and we want to see that allocated properly.”
The Covid support fund has around £250,000 left in it. We asked Mr Findlay about how any future compensation for roadworks in other areas would be afforded. He replied: “I think the key thing is about democratic accountability. Where we have had these promises we have to deliver on them. There are always going to be different arguments in different places, and you could make the same argument about the precedent set in Leith. I think there are always things where the promises that were made have to be kept.”
The precedent which Mr Findlay mentioned is the compensation calculated into the Trams to Newhaven line which will open later this spring. This was a major piece of infrastructure in the city, and also one of the “lessons learned” from the first phase of the tramworks.
Hugh said: “It is a shame that there are other parties who made those promises and have not been able to deliver them.”
And as to the other issues which matter to him he has a wide range of options.
He said: “The key thing is giving people a sense of ownership back about their area, whether that is that people don’t think they have been consulted, they don’t know about the changes, whether it’s in Corstorphine where people are complaining that they haven’t been given a say about the road arrangements being put in place there, or in Ravelston where people seem to be unaware of the fact that the council is once again potentially considering running trams down the Blackhall pathway. So I think it is about people being consulted and involved in the process – that’s what local politics should be about.
“There are two options currently being considered and both of those are live but what I am saying is that that green pathway which goes between Roseburn and Blackhall needs to be protected. Whatever else comes into place that for me is crucial. It is essential that we have that pathway.
“During Covid particularly it was an amazing thing to have. I used it a lot and to have that green quiet space damaged by having trams running down it with the changes needed to the bridges, and a loss of treeline, I think that would be a real shame. We have to protect those things for us.”
In their 2022 manifesto the Conservatives said they wanted to Clean up the City, Hugh concluded by saying: “When I talk to people about those changes that I feel they have not been consulted on, the thing they always say is ‘why are we not doing the basics?’ like fixing potholes. I think particularly around here there have been lots of issues with flooding and drains overflowing, rubbish in the streets and fly tipping.
“I think if we can get back to basics to focus on delivering those essential services that people think about when they are paying their council tax that is what it’s about, that is what people want to see and what I want to do.”
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
