Election 2021: Scottish Parliament candidates' Clydebank spending revealed

Marie McNair was elected MSP for the SNP with nearly half the voters for Clydebank and Milngavie but a slightly reduced majority than her predecessor, Gil Paterson.

Her campaign spent almost 19 per cent more than that of Labour’s Douglas McAllister, including more than 89,000 leaflets and letters. Mr McAllister’s campaign bought 58,000 leaflets.

The SNP did not pay anything to Facebook on ads or to promote posts, while Labour spent £51.85, according to official receipts.

In the hotly contested Dumbarton constituency, the SNP spent more than £4,300 on Facebook ads, more than all campaigns in both constituencies combined.

Labour spent a total of £8,449.36 on their campaigns and the SNP £10,027.55 - a fraction of the total legal limit of more than £38,000.

The Scottish Conservative candidate in Clydebank, Pam Gosal, who was elected via the top-up list to represent the West Scotland region, spent more than £24,000 on her campaigns - nearly as much as all the others combined.

The LibDems spent almost as much as Labour, but got just 2,987 votes.

Independent Alexander John Robertson had the cheapest campaign at £48.38.

Clydebank and Milngavie candidates spent a total of £50,379.38. By comparison, neighbouring Dumbarton saw £69,074.09 across its seven candidates.

Electoral spending details don’t include free social media efforts, national campaigns or outside groups.

Marie McNair became Clydebank’s first female MSP in May

Ms McNair told the Post: “The Scottish Parliament campaign was very challenging because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

“It was great when these restrictions were eased and my team and I were able to get out and about and onto people’s doorsteps.

“I wanted to be completely accessible to the electorate and I will continue to do this as the successful candidate elected to be the constituency MSP.

“Our campaign made use of all the ways possible to reach the electorate and get across the positive vision we are articulating for Clydebank and Milngavie.

“This also involved a greater use of social media and many of our tweets and posts were liked, shared and retweeted. Even with this modern addition, at the heart of my campaign was massive contribution from local SNP members.

“I am immensely proud of their contribution and thankful to them for their massive support. I am humbled to be elected to represent the area where I was brought up and still live. I am now focussed on doing my best to represent the interests of our town.”

Spending was mixed on local businesses as well as those from England. Many Labour campaigns tap into Labour Connect, a central office for materials. The SNP bought their rosettes from a firm in Accrington, Lancashire.

Councillor Douglas McAllister ran to be Labour MSP for Clydebank

More than £10,000 in SNP donations largely came from the Clydebank, Milngavie and Bearsden branches of the party and the constituency association.

Labour got donations from Unison, former MP Tony Worthington, Councillor Danny Lennie, former councillor Kath Ryall, and Mr McAllister – also a Clydebank area councillor, representing the Kilpatrick ward – himself.

Cllr McAllister said: “I remain very proud of the campaign we fought. Unfortunately the Covid restrictions were very much the determining factor in how we fought the election.

“At the beginning of the campaign we could not make direct contact with constituents. In fact it wasn’t until 10 days out from polling day that we could canvas in the traditional manner. Even then, we couldn’t hold public events such as streets stalls.

“We relied on traditional methods such as leaflet delivery working in groups of two. Probably by the end of the campaign people were fed up receiving all our leaflets.

“We also used new methods via social media. It’s difficult to say which was more effective.

“I’m very grateful to my small but highly effective team who helped secure such a large increase in our share of the vote putting Labour very much back in position for future election success.”

All would-be MSPs have legal spending limits set by the Electoral Commission, and the details of their expenses are available for public examination in the weeks following the vote.

A “long campaign” begins on January 6 and runs until the day a person becomes a candidate. The “short campaign” starts the next day and ends on polling day, May 6.

The limits this year were £21,500 plus 6.3p per elector for the long campaign, £8,700 plus 9p per elector on the short campaign.

The number of potential voters can be a provisional number in March before a final one, causing some differences in the calculated potential limit of spending.

All five candidates were below the upper limits, which they legally cannot breach.