Introduction
Dennistoun Community Council (DCC) aims to ascertain, coordinate and express the views of our community, and seeks to promote Dennistoun as a positive and inclusive neighbourhood.
Instead of holding a hustings for the Scottish Parliament elections on 7th May 2026, we sent (on Saturday 18th April) the following questions to each candidate in the Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn and Glasgow Central constituencies, both of which cover areas within the DCC boundary. These questions were also put to each party with a candidate on the Glasgow Region list, within which the DCC area sits wholly.
Q1: On Swimming Pools and Leisure Facilities
(Question provided by Save Whitehill Pool, DCC associate member.)
Almost on a daily basis we read reports about the decline of physical and mental health across the country. Swimming is an activity accessible to all that has proven health benefits, yet the number of pools in Glasgow and beyond is in steady decline.
- What will you do in Parliament to help Glasgow (and other local authorities) finance a programme of investment in the renewal of their aging pools and leisure facilities?
Q2: On Housing and Built Heritage
Cost of living pressures are severe for many people who live in our area. Recent fire and damage we’ve seen in the city centre has been highly concerning.
- How will you help renters and owners in the constituency to afford to continue living and working here, and also, how will you help protect the built heritage of Dennistoun?
Q3: On Transport
Accessible, affordable and safe mobility is essential for enabling people and businesses to thrive. Dennistoun is a densely populated inner city neighbourhood within Glasgow, the largest urban area in Scotland. Yet neither are fulfilling their potential: many residents face significant connectivity challenges, with local and citywide transport options falling short of what is needed.
- What specific actions or policies would you prioritise locally, regionally, and nationally to improve connectivity within and between our communities?
Responses
Best efforts were made to contact each candidate and party using publicly available points of contact.
Answers were requested to be supplied no later than Friday 24th April.
We will publish all replies here on our website (and share via DCC social media) in due course.
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I’m afraid this is a little too late to adequately inform the Dennistoun electorate . On this timescale if you indeed do get responses from the various candidates and their regional parties ; the corresponding responses or indeed lack of engagement have to be relayed to Dennistonians in barely two weeks . This will require a little more than online notification .
Also bearing in mind postal voting is actually active presently the point may be mute . As I have like many I fear already cast my postal vote .
We’re doing the best we’re able with the resources available.
The deadline for replies of Friday 24th April gives candidates one week to respond to our three questions. DCC can then have responses (or lack thereof!) published comfortably more than a week in advance of election day. It can then be digested, shared and discussed accordingly.
In an ideal world the Q+A process would have been completed ahead of anybody having their postal ballot pack, and it’s acknowledged that some postal votes will have been cast already, or before Q+A responses are made available. But there is a limit to this. Indeed, not all postal voters receive their packs at the same time: a proportion will not receive their ballot pack until the 18th April, and another group will not receive their ballot pack until 28th April.
To add context, approximately 24% of all votes cast in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election were postal votes (the highest number ever registered for a postal vote in Scotland, and the proportion in 2026 is expected to be similar). Although in Glasgow fewer than 20% of voters in Glasgow are registered for a postal vote (and in 2021 the average postal ballot return rate was 73.5%).
In addition, we have just a moment ago posted lists of candidates and parties for the constituencies and the region, with links to manifestos, as well as an additional information including a link to a site giving an overview comparison of the major parties’ manifestos.
https://dennistouncc.org.uk/2026/04/20/2026-scottish-parliament-election-dates-candidates-and-party-information-for-dennistoun/
We hope that the DCC Q+A responses prove to be a useful source of info for local voters as we approach election day , but it can only ever be one part of the broader campaign trail picture.
Thank you for this it gives me a more informed choice that Dennistoun needs