THE sun is shining on the promenade at Portobello beach – proper taps aff weather.
People are smiling, enjoying ice creams and cans of IPA. But when asked about politics and the General Election – as you will discover later – the mood quickly sours.
The constituency I’m in — Edinburgh East and Musselburgh – is a new one following boundary changes. But Tommy Sheppard is essentially the incumbent.
The SNP MP candidate (below) won Edinburgh East for the first time in 2015 but will face perhaps his toughest challenge yet to keep the seat – with Labour, represented by Chris Murray, breathing down his neck if polls are to be believed.
“I think there are two major factors that are gonna win or lose this election,” Sheppard told me.
“The first is the extent to which people who are upset about the SNP and are disappointed with the difficulties we've had over the last 18 months, are prepared to come out and give us a vote or or stay at home.
“And then the other one is the extent to which people who are just desperate to get rid of the Tories realise just what a bunch of empty promises Starmer represents and understand I'm also an anti-Tory option but a better one.”
Sheppard is known for founding the Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow but many don’t know he used to be a Labour councillor in London – leaving the party in the early noughties due to his disillusionment with the Blair administration and eventually getting involved in the independence movement pre-referendum.
“Starmer is worse than Blair. I mean, seriously,” he said.
“In fairness to the Labour of the mid-1990s, they had Gordon Brown talking about tax credits, Robin Cook talking about ethical foreign policy and John Prescott talking about regional government."
Sheppard added: “You had a range of things that added up to an alternative view from what John Major's government was doing.”
The SNP MP candidate went on to rail against shadow health secretary Wes Streeting talking openly about the possibility of privatising parts of the NHS and David Lammy who “can’t bring himself to condemn war crimes” in Gaza.
He went on: “Excuse me, but what's the point?
“If you don't wanna be ignored, you want your voice listened to - vote SNP. We will push a Labour government to actually be a Labour government rather than a Tory one.”
Greens candidate for the seat Amanda Grimm (above) – who previously worked in Holyrood – said that she is hearing a lot of people on the doorstep saying they will be voting Labour to get the Tories out.
“But in this seat, the Tories don't have a chance,” she said.
“I would say that people feel quite disillusioned with politics as a whole and that's quite sad to see and I'm trying to give people hope and say that your vote can change things.
“Please do use your vote and vote for the party who's setting out a positive vision that you want to see.”
Grimm added that the fact first past the post means that Labour could get in on the basis of votes in England alone means people can vote “for the party whose policies they believe in”.
She added: “If people vote Green and they show they want a greener, more progressive, more compassionate government – that will put pressure on Labour and they'll see that they need to represent those views when they're in government.”
Now, it’s back to Portobello beach promenade and the smiling masses.
There, I meet two pensioners out for a stroll – 78-year-old Iris Pack and 73-year-old Anna McAleenan.
Anna believes housing is the biggest issue in the area, while Iris believes that their pension is too low. They will both be voting and tell me they like things that “both the Tories and Labour” are saying.
The vast majority of those I spoke with that day said they felt disillusioned in spite of the good weather.
That included 33-year-old Ryan, who said she is probably voting SNP or Labour despite believing neither have “strong manifesto points” that would sway her.
Ian Chisholm, 79, is pro-independence and was a member of the SNP for 50 years. Despite this, he said he is “conflicted” as to whether he will vote for the party this time around as he believes they have “never done anything with independence strategically since Sturgeon”.
“I will probably make up my mind when I see the paper in front of me,” he added.
Murray didn't respond to a request for interview.
