Getting the message out about the new voting system

Saturday morning with local activists of the Amicus trade union, for a briefing session on the how new voting system for local government elections works in practice. I'm glad they're doing this, because I'm very concerned that not enough is being done to publicise the details of the new system. I support proportional representation, including for local government, but I've not been sure from the start that the system which is going to apply to local government elections in Scotland from May is the one that should be used. And although I have a lot of confidence in the public's ability to understand, and achieve quite sophisticated results in their use of, a more proportional voting system, it is not going to be easy having elections on the same day using three different voting systems, as will happen in Scotland in May.

After that, I was along to the consultation session hosted by the Council about their proposals for Meadowbank stadium. This is causing a lot of local concern - and I can understand why, as my own children are regular users, and it's a good facility well-used by the local community. I was doing family things later on, and so couldn't attend the public meeting organised by the Save Meadowbank Campaign, but Gavin Strang MP (in whose constituency the stadium is situated) was there to represent us both. I gather there were 600+ there, which underlines public feelings on the issue.