Local SNP announce six more council candidates

Incumbent Councillor Tony Gurney has been re-selected to stand in the Ardrossan and Arran ward and he will be standing alongside Ellen McMaster, who replaces the outgoing John Bruce as the party’s candidate living on the Isle of Arran.

Tony said on his selection: “I am delighted that my colleagues have shown faith in my achievements over the last five years during which time I have worked hard as your councillor, including ensuring your schools, community centres and libraries have remained open. Bringing wind farm money to Ardrossan and Arran allowing us to pay for many of the improvements you see on our streets. These include Ardrossan’s annual Christmas Lights and the forthcoming floodlighting of Ardrossan castle, as well as countless smaller but no less important projects in both communities.

“I hope that the people of Ardrossan and Arran will recognise these achievements and support the SNP in the election. 

“I am particularly delighted to welcome Ellen to the local council campaign. Councillor John Bruce will be a hard act to follow, and everyone in the SNP wishes him well in his retirement, but in Ellen McMaster I am convinced that we have created a winning team for the ward.”

Ellen McMaster is a long-time community activist who has recently been at the forefront of an Arran grassroots campaign to keep the ferry sailing to Ardrossan; organising a petition and collecting over 1,200 signatures on the island. She also helped to fundraise for the first Arran Folk Festival, chaired and fundraised for the PTA and School Council and lobbied successfully to provide a playing field at Shiskine Primary.

Ellen has lived on Arran since 1989 and is married to a local farmer; they have three adult sons.

As a result of experiencing homelessness in the 1990s, Ellen ran for and became an elected member of Arran Homes, a sub-committee of Trust Housing Association. She sat on the committee for 10 years during a period of significant increase in social housing provision.

12 years as a carer for her mother-in- law has given Ellen first-hand experience of the delivery of social care and the challenges faced by service users, carers and local authority providers. She also served as a voluntary counsellor with survivors of abuse and bereavement in various NHS and health-care settings while training for a Diploma in Counselling.

Ellen has worked in a variety of shops and businesses, gaining valuable insight into the importance of small businesses to the economy of North Ayrshire.

Speaking after the selection Ellen said: “I am delighted to have been selected to fight this ward. If elected, I will continue to fight to ensure that local people receive the best possible services from North Ayrshire Council.”

Standing for Kilbirnie & Beith will be Councillor Anthea Dickson and Margaret Johnson, whilst the ward of Dalry & West Kilbride will be contested by Joy Brahim and Stephen Brown.

Anthea Dickson has been serving the ward as a North Ayrshire councillor for eight and a half years. As part of the SNP administration until 2016, she chaired the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, one of the first integrated joint boards in Scotland, which is currently leading the field in good practice across the country. Anthea also sits on various committees covering diverse interests such as Clyde Muirshiel Park Authority and Kilbirnie Loch Management Group, and retains an interest in community safety and criminal justice via the South West Scotland Community Justice Authority and Safer North Ayrshire Partnership.

Prior to being a councillor, Anthea was employed as Commercial Research and Development Manager at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She has also worked in the field of Clinical Research, in both the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS. Married with two children, her main hobbies and interests are reading, cake decorating, walking, enjoying all things Spanish, and watching her family grow.

Anthea stated: “As a councillor it has been an honour to meet and work with the fantastic, enthusiastic people in our community who run so many of our local clubs and organisations, and within the council itself. If re-elected I will continue to encourage, assist and empower people to find effective ways to support those who need it most”.

Margaret Johnson has lived in Kilbirnie for 30 years. She is married to Henry with whom she shares five children and six grandchildren, three of them in Beith. Margaret, an ex-civil servant, has also worked in finance and administration in both the public and private sectors and in large and small organisations.

Through her work with the SNP Margaret has become more and more aware of the things which are most important to local families – good public services like housing, schools, transport and health care. If elected, she says that she will work to build on the progress made by the SNP administration which ran North Ayrshire Council from 2012 to 2016.

Margaret is also active in the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign, fighting to achieve fair transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s, of whom 660 live in the Kilbirnie and Beith Ward.

Margaret said: “As the ongoing austerity agenda continues to impact disproportionately on our most vulnerable citizens, local authorities will be tasked with making vital decisions that will affect us all. I will be a strong voice for Kilbirnie, Glengarnock, Longbar and Beith in that process. I am determined to listen to and work with local people and organisations to get the best deal for the people and communities in the Garnock Valley.”

Joy Brahim was educated at Leiden University in The Netherlands, and gained a marketing degree from Edinburgh Napier University. Having campaigned for the SNP since 2010, she became a member in 2013 and has remained an active campaigner ever since.

Since May 2015, Joy has been based in the constituency office of Kenneth Gibson MSP in Dalry, where she works fulltime as a Senior Researcher and has managed the office since last June. Prior to this, she worked for another SNP MSP in Edinburgh.

In her current position, Joy works with North Ayrshire Council on a daily basis and is aware of the issues that matter to local communities. She is currently running a campaign with the aim of getting TSB to reconsider their decision to close their Dalry branch as, contrary to other towns, Dalry will be left without a single bank.

Commenting on her selection, Joy said: “Lately we have been seeing a lot of projects coming to fruition that the SNP administration initiated. If elected, I look forward to continuing these positive developments as part of our new council group. I am also keen to pursue more investment into Dalry and West Kilbride and would make it a priority to do all I can to attract this, working together with constituents.”

Stephen Brown is a senior Chartered Management Accountant having originally qualified at Roche in Dalry. He holds additional professional qualifications in Business Law, Human Resources and Business Strategy. Stephen has occupied a number of senior positions including one of fifteen voting Trustees of the national Church of Scotland, Group Finance Director of a multinational textiles company, and with several other household name companies. He is now an entrepreneur.

Married and with four children, West Kilbride based Stephen works in a voluntary capacity as Finance Director of North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Service and has been Director of the multi award winning West Kilbride Community Initiative, Finance Convener of the Presbytery of Ardrossan, and a local Community Councillor.

He is passionate about the west coast of Scotland, recently having founded the popular Being West Kilbride Facebook Group. He has written extensively on local history and promotes local businesses.

If elected, Stephen has pledged to deliver effective representation for the people of Dalry and West Kilbride as part of a strong SNP administration.

Commenting on the candidates’ selections, Councillor Marie Burns, leader of the SNP group at North Ayrshire Council, said: “I am delighted that the Garnock Valley and West Kilbride branches have selected four such exceptionally hard-working candidates, all of whom have a great deal of experience in both the public and private sectors. The SNP prides itself on being Stronger for Scotland; if elected in these challenging economic and uncertain times, Anthea, Margaret, Joy and Stephen will certainly be strong advocates for their respective wards. I look forward to working with all of them in the forthcoming campaign, to once again deliver an SNP administration at North Ayrshire Council.”