Since going live with our Candidate Information base we’ve had a busy couple of weeks and we’ve now had responses from 272 candidates – that’s more than 10% of the total of 2,569 people who are standing in these elections
So what do the figures tell us so far?
First, we’ve had responses from 31 out of the 32 local authority areas (if there’s anyone here from Shetland, do please get in touch with your candidates because that’s the one that’s missing) and it’s not all concentrated in the cities, as you might have expected:
| Council area | responses | % of all candidates |
| Aberdeen City | 9 | 8.9% |
| Aberdeenshire | 19 | 16.4% |
| Angus | 5 | 9.4% |
| Argyll and Bute | 3 | 3.9% |
| City of Edinburgh | 32 | 26.7% |
| Clackmannanshire | 3 | 8.6% |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 16 | 18.2% |
| Dundee City | 5 | 7.2% |
| East Ayrshire | 2 | 3.2% |
| East Dunbartonshire | 9 | 19.6% |
| East Lothian | 8 | 18.2% |
| East Renfrewshire | 2 | 4.4% |
| Falkirk | 6 | 10.0% |
| Fife | 26 | 14.6% |
| Glasgow City | 26 | 12.4% |
| Highland | 5 | 3.0% |
| Inverclyde | 1 | 2.2% |
| Midlothian | 1 | 2.4% |
| Moray | 6 | 13.3% |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | 3 | 5.0% |
| North Ayrshire | 8 | 11.4% |
| North Lanarkshire | 11 | 7.0% |
| Orkney Islands | 2 | 5.7% |
| Perth and Kinross | 18 | 20.9% |
| Renfrewshire | 7 | 7.4% |
| Scottish Borders | 8 | 10.7% |
| Shetland Islands | 0 | 0.0% |
| South Ayrshire | 6 | 13.3% |
| South Lanarkshire | 13 | 8.6% |
| Stirling | 4 | 8.2% |
| West Dunbartonshire | 1 | 2.3% |
| West Lothian | 7 | 10.1% |
Edinburgh comes top, with over a quarter of all candidates responding so far, but followed by Perth and Kinross, East Dunbartonshire, with East Lothian and the predominantly rural Dumfries and Galloway tied in fourth place.
How about the parties? Well, perhaps not surprisingly , the Greens are doing well. Their manifesto for the local elections has made a strong commitment to our three asks, and that’s reflected in individual candidates’ responses.
| Independent | 18 | 3.6% |
| Scottish Conservative and Unionist | 47 | 12.4% |
| Scottish Green Party | 102 | 46.8% |
| Scottish Labour Party | 36 | 7.9% |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | 29 | 11.7% |
| Scottish National Party (SNP) | 37 | 5.9% |
| Tommy Sheridan – Solidarity – Hope Over Fear | 3 | 18.8% |
But it might surprise some to see the Conservatives in second place – perhaps David Cameron’s cycling legacy hasn’t been as quickly shaken off as it has in Westminster!
We’ll look at what the responses are in more detail in a few days, but we need more responses to get an accurate picture. Please take a moment to find your candidates and ask them to let you – and us – know where they stand on our three asks. All they have to do is email us on contact@walkwheelcyclevote.scot and we’ll do the rest.