Commonwealth Day
Today is Commonwealth or Empire Day and this morning the Lord Provost will be hoisting the Commonwealth flag at the City Chambers to recordings the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations.
This day has been recognised since 1977, and HM The King will broadcast an address to those nations remaining in the Commonwealth. Formerly known as Empire Day it was changed in December 1958 when Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan altered the name due to its political connotations.
The second Monday in March is used to recognise the Commonwealth as it is a date with no history behind it. Meanwhile the Scottish Greens are calling for the abolition of the monarchy.
It appears that the last time The Edinburgh Reporter attended one of these small gatherings was in 2017 when Donald Wilson was Lord Provost.
Granton Station Square opening
There was a grand opening of Granton Station Square on Saturday, the first major milestone of the Granton Waterfront regeneration.
Locals, including S3 pupils from Craigroyston Community High School were invited to see the refurbished Edwardian Granton Station building on Saturday. The pupils have been busy creating artwork symbolising the are along with local artist Shona Hardie. The art was displayed on Waterfront Broadway for everyone to see as the arrived and departed from the opening event.
There is also a history exhibition displayed on the squares two new art benches. This will be a year-round exhibition space with a changing display provided by partner organisations working with Granton Waterfront.
The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh
HM The King bestowed the title of Duke of Edinburgh on his younger brother, Prince Edward, on his 59th birthday on 10 March.
The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh came to the capital for a civic reception and were welcomed by the Lord Lieutenant, Robert Aldridge.
By Election result lauded by LibDem Leader
Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole Hamilton MSP, used the newest councillor in town, Cllr Fiona Bennett, as a main pillar of his speech to the Scottish Liberal Democrats conference in Dundee. Despite only having four MSPs at Holyrood, the LibDem group in Edinburgh has now (almost) risen to the dizzy heights of 2007 when 16 Liberal Democrat councillors were elected, and took control of the council under leader, Jenny Dawe.
Then followed the trams project and the 2012 election when 13 Liberal Democrat councillors lost their seats in one election. However as the Labour councillor Ross McKenzie has resigned and now sits as an independent, the ruling Labour administration is reduced to 12 councillors. Our view is that the current seat of power is likely to continue, but then who knows? A week is a long time in politics.
The last council by election took place in November 2020 when SNP Cllr Ethan Young was elected, holding the seat vacated by Cllr Ian Campbell who stepped down due to ill health. Cllr Young won the seat at Stage 6 and the turnout in the Liberton/Gilmerton ward was 31.6%.
In Corstorphine/Murrayfield the postal vote alone was around 20% of the electorate and even when those votes had been scanned through the counting machines on Thursday night it was evident that the Liberal Democrats had an unassailable lead.
The result means that there are now three LibDem councillors, an MSP and and MP in the West of Edinburgh as well as another two LibDems elected in Drum Brae/Gyle, although one of those is the Rt Hon Lord Provost Robert Aldridge who has no political affiliation in his role.
Even in the 2022 election one of the Liberal Democrats elected in Corstorphine/Murrayfield was elected at Stage One with 34.2% of the First Preference votes.
It is the Conservative vote which has fallen from a 16% share last year to 9.7% in 2023, and the SNP vote share fell from 18.7% to just 13.3%.
The full result of Thursday’s Corstorphine/Murrayfield by election was as follows:
BENNETT Fiona Scottish Liberal Democrats 4,577 56%
FETTE Richard Scottish Family Party: Pro-Family, Pro- Marriage, Pro-Life 90 (1.1%
FINDLAY Hugh Scottish Conservative and Unionist 788 (9.6%
GREGSON Pete Independent (Gregson) 295 (3.6%
MILLER Elaine Independent (Miller) 327 (4.0%)
PARKER Richard Scottish Labour Party 568 (7.0%)
RUTHERFORD Donald Scottish National Party (SNP) 1,086 (13.3%)
SMITH Gary Scottish Libertarian Party 20 (0.2%)
YOUNG Chris Scottish Green Party 417 (5.1%)
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
