TONI Giugliano is well known in the SNP and independence grassroots circles and now has his sights on a seat at Westminster with a defining mission – taking Scotland back into the European Union.
Falkirk, currently held by John McNally, is one of the SNP’s safest seats but the campaign team will take nothing for granted.
Giugliano, 38 said: “It’s only going to be hard work that’s going to win it and anyone who knows me knows I’m very much a hands-on candidate, who leaves no stone unturned.
“Between now and Christmas, we’re going to be out there quite a lot, right across the constituency, taking our message of hope to our communities.”
Having previously delivered the highest-ever SNP share of the vote in Dumbarton in 2021 against Labour MSP Jackie Bailie and working for Yes Scotland in 2014, Giugliano knows a thing or two about campaigning.
He said he is going to focus on three elements over winter – energy, mortgages and Brexit.
Giugliano said he has seen first hand the insecurity people feel and how this affects their lives and their mental health.
He shared the achievement he is most proud of in the third sector – the creation of a suicide bereavement project.
Aimed at supporting families of people who take their own lives, it has been piloted in health board areas around Scotland and has recently been evaluated with the hope it will be rolled out nationally.
It is one example of work Giugliano (above) hopes to pursue at Westminster to tackle inequality. He said: “These have been some of the issues I’ve worked on over the years – the societal drivers that lead to hopelessness and ultimately for some people, tragically taking their own lives.
“I’ve been able to see the damage the misery inflicted by UK Government policies on some of the most vulnerable in society – be it the sanctions regime or insecure work through zero hour contracts and what job insecurity does to mental health.”
From Italian roots to running in Falkirk, Giugliano said Europe, “is in my blood”, but he is happy to be described as a central belter. I went to university in Edinburgh, and I lived there for quite a few years, grew up in the west coast and I’m standing in Falkirk, so, I will happily be described as a central belter,” he said.
Giugliano and his family moved from Italy to Renfrewshire when he was seven. He said: “My family has benefited from the freedom of movement many people have been able to enjoy.
“It has enriched our society, not just culturally and socially but economically as well and I think what has happened through Brexit, with many people choosing to leave Scotland and the likes of our health service and different sectors of our economy, it has been tragic.
“If I’m elected next year, my defining mission would be to take Scotland back into the European Union as an independent country.”
His focus on independence was clear at the party conference in October. Giugliano put forward two monumental amendments to the SNP’s independence strategy; one calling for a Yes campaign revival, and the other for the word “independence” to be added to the SNP’s logo and name on ballot papers at the next General Election, in a bid to reach out to Yes voters beyond the SNP membership.
Both passed, the first unanimously and the second overwhelmingly. “I worked for Yes Scotland for two years and it was my job there to set up grassroots sectoral groups all over the country,” Giugliano said. “We got sectoral organisations and groups and people in important sectors to come out for independence. From Generation Yes, which was our youth and student movement to Farming for Yes, it was such an important aspect of the campaign because our task at the time was to demonstrate that we were bigger than the SNP.
‘AT the time, our opponents, their line of attack was this is just the SNPs dream, and actually we demonstrated that support for independence was in every sector of Scottish society – it was everywhere, support was everywhere, and it was bigger than us, it was bigger than one party, it was bigger than one leader.”
His experience in the role was a key drive in his renewed call for a campaign, for another “self-confidence exercise” for Scotland.
“I think more than ever, we need that energy and momentum that we had back in 2014 to focus minds on the General Election.
“For me, it’s absolutely crucial we have a campaign for our activists and the public. For our activists so they have the confidence to be able to make the arguments on the doorsteps and for the public so they can make an informed decision.”
But can the party set up a campaign by the end of the year? I think that they can set up the campaign up. I think that they definitely can set up the campaign, and I think that we will set up the campaign.
“We need to bring to life some of the arguments contained in Scottish government papers, which I would say provide an insight into some of the policy landscape, but are they accessible enough?”
With the party set to publish a new paper on Scotland’s future relationship with Europe, Giugliano is keen to make this a key part of his personal campaign in the constituency.
The latest document in the series of white papers building a new prospectus for independence is expected to outline proposals relating to EU membership, such as the position on rejoining and on the Euro currency.
“I’ll be talking about Brexit and food prices and the opportunities of independence once we are able to represent ourselves at the top tables of Europe, make the case for Scotland’s distinct national interest and have a new relationship with Europe – one that is constructive, one that embraces freedom of movement,” Giugliano said.
“One that takes us back to or rather takes us to the heart of Europe because, you know, I don’t think the UK has ever truly been at the heart of Europe and I think that Scotland would be with, with independence.
“We need to spend the next six months plus boosting Scotland’s self-confidence, making the arguments, with heavy-hitting arguments about the failure of the Union and why, people are worse off right now.”
