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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Catherine Hunter

West Dunbartonshire Council Election 2022: Polls quiet as candidates push for final votes

There was a quiet turnout during the day in West Dunbartonshire, as voters headed to the polls to elect a new council.

The number of people voting in their local elections is usually between 30% and 50%, but even so the number of people attending the Dalmuir Barclay Parish Church to elect their next administration seemed particularly low on Thursday, with one passerby calling the polling station “dead”.

Candidates and campaigners out pushing for last minute votes were hopeful that voting would pick up between 5pm and 10pm however with most people expected to vote after work.

READ MORE: Scotland local elections 2022 LIVE updates

Campaigners from the SNP, Labour and the Scottish Family Party were on standby at the church to hand out leaflets on the grey but dry day to anyone who hadn’t decided who to vote for - with Labour and the SNP both trying to take credit for the Queen’s Quay Development which sports a care home, leisure centre and a “diverse” range of house types.

SNP candidate James McElhill described the campaign trail in Clydebank as "very low key" and said he expected there to be hundreds of spoilt ballot papers, with people saying they had marked an “X” rather than listing their preferred option from one to seven.

He said he expected the main concerns from speaking to people were potholes and road maintenance.

Mr McElhill said: “Potholes and grass cutting have been the main issues raised with me during the campaign trail. People have also voiced concerns about the roadworks and the length of time it is taking to redo the road outside the town hall.”

Meanwhile a member of the Scottish Family Party said the council needed to focus on children’s education while providing them opportunities.

Candidate Brian Lally said: “We need happy children but they also need to learn discipline. Children should also be exposed to more educational opportunities rather than have to wait until they are at university or completing an apprenticeship.

“When it comes to local issues I would like to see the re-roofing of the old flat roofed buildings. They are very impractical homes especially living in Scotland with the amount of rain we see each year.

“I would also like to see proper cycle lanes developed across West Dunbartonshire to make active travel safer for both cyclists and motorists.”

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