A Saturday afternoon with Sierra Ferrell, Assai Records, Edinburgh

Music in a room, what can be better. A crowd of strangers, mainly, joined in the communal appreciation of an artist a performer sharing their songs, their music.

So it was on Saturday when I ventured out to Assai Records in Edinburgh to catch an instore performance from Sierra Ferrell a rising star of new old country (ok I've coined that myself). Her songs sound like they have always been in existence. They haven't, they are new and come from this sparky West Virginian and conjure up a country sound that is not Nashville, now or I would contend then.

I turned up early and a summer downpour saw me take shelter in the Blue Blazer, a howf with many memories. I wasn't alone with my thought for long. My music buddy Stewart arrived, like me sheltering from the summer rain. We shared our pints and talked music.

And then it was the priority queue for Assai and the wonder that is Sierra Ferrell, playing as a trio with fiddle/mandolin, her guitar, and double bass, beautiful harmonies. Perfect for this small space. The appreciative audience enjoying every precious minute, gamely joining in in the audience participation on 'At the End of the Rainbow'. The show was everything is needed to be, an intimate audience with a wonderful new artist far from home in Scotland (enjoying the beer) finding a warm enthusiastic welcome.

For me it was a bonus to be there - I was going to miss her show in Glasgow the next night. If you haven't heard Sierra's music don't miss out. A packed record shop in Edinburgh will testify to that.

Losing an Election is not as simple as A,B,C

 In May I stood for re-election to the City of Edinburgh Council. I didn't make the cut for the fourth seat in the multi-member Leith Walk ward. These are my thoughts on that result and how it came about.

Elections are complex events with none more so than Scottish Council elections using single transferable vote to elect 3 or 4 councillors per ward.

As a recent unsuccessful candidate, I perhaps have more to complain about. I ran in a 4 member ward as one of two SNP candidates. It was a ward where the SNP had successfully achieved the goal of electing two councillors at the previous elections in 2017. There is strong SNP support in the ward that would indicate that two SNP candidates could be elected. We also had two active and responsive incumbent councillors standing for re-election. It should have been a forgone conclusion, but it wasn’t.

I missed out at the final stage when a wave of transfers from the unsuccessful Conservative candidate swept the LibDem candidate to success, winning the fourth seat.

What were the reasons for my loss? The easy answer would be to just blame the alphabet. I’ve featured in two newspaper articles that have followed that line. The second article included quotes from me which backed up the hypothesis that the alphabet was to blame. Taking that line makes me sound a bitter loser and downgrades the quality of my running mate Amy McNeese-Mechan who thoroughly deserves her seat on the Council based on the work she has done for the Leith Walk ward since her election in 2017. I did outline to the journalist the other factors that came into play but his starting point was the alphabet and I guess the other significant factors were seen as peripheral and therefore unimportant. 

So what were the other factors that affected the outcome?

The SNP have recently taken the highest share of first preference votes in the Leith Walk ward with the Greens not too far behind making those two parties the dominant players in the ward elections. They are most likely to get their candidates successfully elected. The Greens got their candidate Susan Rae elected comfortably at the first stage and I benefitted from transfers. Amy McNeese-Mechan was also elected at the first stage and again I benefitted from transfers. These transfers put me back into play pushing me into fourth place. I remained there until the wave of Conservative transfers secured the fourth seat for the LibDem candidate.

While any comparison of the 2022 result with the 2017 result does show that the alphabet bias was more pronounced this time around the reasons are likely to be a complex mix of factors.

If it wasn’t entirely down to the alphabet, then what were the other factors? The messaging of the campaign is important – did our campaign get the ‘how to vote for an SNP team’ message out clearly to our supporters and those inclined to vote SNP? How strong was the appeal for second preferences? Did we have right mix of leaflets and letters to communicate that message effectively? Did we get the ward split wrong for this election? A different ratio or split may have worked better. Did our vote share hold up? There was a drop of 5.37% in the SNP share in Leith Walk this time which could be as a result of the quality of our campaign, weariness of voters especially with a major infrastructure project Edinburgh Trams running through the heart of the ward, even the number of candidates standing - there were 12 the second highest in the city. The drop in vote share will have deflated the votes for both of our candidates and is significant as the lower the overall vote share the less likely getting two candidates elected becomes. The drop in vote share may well have been the key factor as had the SNP vote share maintained 2017 levels it is possible that my first preference total may have been above the LibDem candidate  and my running mate would have had more transfers to share with me. Could the sequence of candidates being elected or excluded have changed to result? Maybe, certainly the Conservative transfers to LibDem proved decisive.  A higher turnout may (there was a 3.1% drop in turnout in the ward in 2022)  have given more helpful transfers from Green and SNP voters that would have pushed me across the line. In the end STV multi-member elections come down to percentages and shares of percentages. You can follow the result here (thanks to Indylive and Democracy Club).

In the end I was just not successful in my bid to be re-elected. There is risk in every election, and it is a risk every candidate must bear. I accept the outcome. I wish all of the successfully elected councillors for Leith Walk the very best for the next five years representing a varied and busy ward.

2022 full results https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/15127/ward-12-leith-walk-2022-election-results

Ballot Box Scotland published their breakdown here https://ballotbox.scot/le22/edinburgh#ward12

Memorial/Elanor Moss/Jack Hinks - Sneaky Pete's

 A Tuesday night gig in my favourite Edinburgh venue Sneaky Pete's. I'd been waiting to see Memorial again ever since their support slot with Courtney Marie Andrews in Glasgow at the tail end of last year. 

As is often the case at Sneaks there were two support acts. There were lots of acoustic guitars.

First up was Jack Hinks, I think formerly of the Jack Hinks Band, but tonight solo. I missed the beginning of his set and only caught the last three songs. One was about Los Angeles and how even though it's big it is also small. I liked that and the idea behind the song. I'll look out for him again, I think he's local (though maybe not to Los Angeles).

I'd never heard of Elanor Moss before. I don't know why. It's a complete mystery to me what with my liking for women's voices and sad girls with acoustic guitars. She was a revelation. Very assured songs, a beautiful voice and cheery between song chat. She's right though the songs are sad and it takes a brave performer who finishes their set with a song about a serial killer, in this case an Italian woman who only killed men who'd wronged her. Seems fair. I'm going to stick my neck out and say we'll be hearing more of Elanor Moss. I certainly want to hear more and probably will.

Memorial could be a goth band but they're not. It's the name. They're two blokes who sing and play acoustic guitars so not goths though the songs are sad. They have a way with harmonies and the interplay of their voices at times conjures up both the brightness and the melancholy of Simon and Garfunkel. That likeness doesn't dominate but is there and I was intrigued that they were going to play a cover of a song by 'Garfunkel' one where he hadn't used harmonies but they had added harmonies. Unfortunately that song remained a mystery as the venue informed them they were over time and had only one song to go so they switched to one of their own. They have a album to sell and their own songs to sing. They do that extremely well. I don't know if Memorial are going to be big but if you like keenly observed lyrics and really lovely harmonies then this is for you and anyone who likes the same. Which should be a lot of people. I'll be keeping my ears open for more of their music that's a certainty.