Dear readers, there are a lot more of you today than last week — many as fully fledged members! We’ve been overwhelmed by the support after turning on paid subscriptions last week, with over 220 sign-ups in addition to our nearly 5,000 free subscribers. At this rate, we can reach 250 by Friday. If you missed our Sunday note on who funds us and why paid subscriptions make local media answerable to the readers alone, you can revisit it here.
Over the weekend we published a deep dive on Maryhill, a neighbourhood that’s often described as neglected but doesn’t want your self-pity. Readers loved it; at least judging from the subscriber influx we received. “This is what we're looking for: Maryhill content,” said IPPR Scotland director, Stephen Boyd, over on Bluesky. Elsewhere, James Shaw called it “thoughtful, in-depth local journalism”. We’ll have more of that this week, with reads on radical walking tours, transport and one taxing issue that seems to provoke significant emotion …
Great to see a (new) paper ‘send out’ its staff to report on issues and give people a voice, and do it as a matter of routine. Great piece this, full of balance and endeavour, and well put together. People just need to pay for it now. I have. #supportlocalmedia https://t.co/58u4DG1VzG
— Ian Marland (@IanMarlandNews) November 23, 2024
If you want to get all of these in your inbox, sign up now as a paid member. We’ve got a special time-limited offer for those coming in from the start too: 20% off your monthly or annual subscription (and snagging an annual works out two months cheaper than a monthly).
That’s all to come; first, your Monday briefing.
Your Bell briefing
🚨 A Glasgow disability charity has warned that uncertainty over grant funding could cause 72% of staff to lose their jobs. Reported by The Herald, Glasgow Disability Association (GDA) is already having to cut seven roles by March 2025. If core funding from the Scottish Government’s Equality Inclusion and Human Rights fund isn’t secured, six more jobs may have to go, leaving just four workers supporting almost 6,000 people in Glasgow in accessing vital services.
🚽 We want to draw your attention to a city council consultation soon to be launched, finally taking steps to address one of the most pressing issues facing this city: the lack of a pot to relieve oneself in. A six-week survey will be opened on Glasgow’s public toilet provision following a council meeting on Tuesday, before a planned strategy outline will be published in March 2025. Movement on loos is the result of sustained public campaigning, including a 2021 petition supported by more than 1300 people, which demanded more toilets. The Glasgow Times has the full story.
🗞️ A little study in different interpretations, thrown up by the Google news algorithm: under the ‘News about Glasgow’ heading, one Bell staffer notes two stories have been sorted side-by-side. ‘New Glasgow Rolls-Royce nuclear submarine office creates new jobs,’ declared the first headline, a Westminster press release dropped on gov.uk. ‘Labour opens Glasgow site to ramp up deadly arms race with China,’ read the second story’s header, from Socialist Worker. Amusing (right up until the point of detonation).
Big story: The Bell's by-election roundup
Topline: Last week, we spent the early hours of Friday cocooned in the ornate interior of the City Chambers’ Banqueting Hall. We were there to watch three north Glasgow wards deliver new representatives to the city council. Short summary: Labour had a clean sweep in Maryhill, Drumchapel/Anniesland and North East. But the real story is in the rise of Reform, plus the other titbits we picked up from the count.
Red wave: Labour were expected to take North East and Drumchapel/Anniesland. But a Maryhill SNP councillor had told us prior to polling that they “[had] some confidence” they would win there. It was not to be; despite electorate anger at policies coming from the Labour government in Westminster, Marie Garrity led SNP challenger Lorna Finn in first preference votes and was over 250 votes ahead before Finn’s final round knockout. Garrity was the only Labour winner to improve on her first preference vote share since the last election.
Mellowing on yellow: Across all three wards, despite coming in second, the SNP haemorrhaged support, with their first preference vote share down an average of 11.6%. Bar Maryhill, Labour also dropped first preference votes. Maryhill also had the highest turnout at 19.3%; everywhere, people stayed home. For comparison, a March by-election in neighbouring Hillhead saw 24.3% of potential voters come out.
Yet one crop of people were motivated to go to their polling stations: supporters of the rebranded former Brexit Party: Reform UK.
Is this really Reform? In every single constituency, Reform — standing candidates for the first time — got over 12% of the vote share, performing the best in North East, with 18.3% of the vote. Are they picking up brand new supporters or collecting votes from other parties?
- As we reported in our weekend read on Maryhill, we got chatting to unsuccessful Green candidate Ellie Gomersall at the count, who expressed her concern at the rightwing party’s strong showing.”People see [Reform] as a rejection of the status quo,” she told us, adding that Labour had “stolen” the election from the SNP, because of local and national government unpopularity.
- Gomersall might have a point: in Drumchapel/Anniesland, fourth place after Reform was not taken by the Greens, but instead Independent contender Elspeth Kerr. Kerr told The Bell she was standing to improve the links between the council and the Drumchapel/Anniesland electorate, pointing to patchy city councillor attendance at community meetings as evidence of a disconnect.
- Gomersall’s conclusion on the results? To get back into contention, the Greens “need to act radically to distance themselves from the government”.
Familiar faces: Speaking of reformed characters, at the count we spotted John White, the young far right activist who recently found himself under scrutiny for his political activities, including a summer trip to France to support Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party. His appearance was a surprise; just two weeks ago, the Sunday Mail reported White had renounced his association with Reform after it caused problems for his career aspirations. Writing on social media, the legal student said he had “thought long and hard,” and “ultimately [...] decided to follow a different path”. Perhaps some wires were crossed because when we saw White, there was a large, hard-to-miss Reform rosette pinned to the lapel of his suit.
Missing in action: Not at the count however, was Glasgow’s Green MSP Patrick Harvie. His absence was all the more noticeable given MSPs from Labour and SNP were there in support of their local government colleagues. And we’re told it was clocked — by disappointed activists from his own party…
What do you make of Reform’s performance? Unrepresentative of something bigger or changing political tides? Let us know in the comments.
Spot of the Week: The Good Coffee Cartel
The Kinning Park coffee shop and roastery recently celebrated its 7th birthday. For our money, they’re roasting some of the best beans in the city. The Cartel has also saved thousands of single use bags over the years by simply using refillable tins and containers. It’s a cute wee spot to while away an hour, and dug friendly too — good boy Padraig can often be seen working hard behind the scenes in exchange for a few treats.
Media picks
Candles for the Big Yin: It’s hard to believe this video of Billy Connolly in fine form is four decades old. The BBC Archive page (well worth a follow) shared the clip on its fortieth anniversary, a few days before Connolly’s 82nd birthday. Connolly faces some tough questions on Open to Question from an audience of Scottish teenagers, namely for portraying Glaswegians as “ignorant, bigoted morons”. “I’m a wee bit tired of being defensive. I have done lots of things — I have sung songs, I’ve played my banjo, I’ve told funny stories about all sorts of subjects, but you’ve all honed in on this ‘giving Glasgow a bad name,’” he tells the audience. Safe to say history has viewed Connolly a touch more favourably than these bolshie schoolkids.
Insert strongly worded message here: We’ve been rewatching Veep lately, endlessly struck by Armando Iannucci’s genius for scabrous scripting, inspired insults and incisive analysis. The satirist has got a new podcast with Helen Lewis, Strong Message Here, in which the pair dissect, unpack and decode political language — including most recently the etymology of the ‘Deep State’. The writer is readying a social media satire set in Silicon Valley too. “I'm thinking about the power of the internet. Microsoft, Google, Facebook. You have these twentysomethings who have a way into billions of households. Where's the power gone? The power is gravitating towards these companies,” he told The Guardian, way back in 2012.
Support your local cinema: Outgoing Glasgow Film Theatre boss Allison Gardner spoke to The Herald over the weekend, as she paves the way for retirement next year as CEO of Glasgow Film and director of Glasgow Film Festival. She’s been at the GFT for three decades, and didn’t hold back in the interview, underlining the need for government support. “Profit is not our job. Our job is to show those gems from across the world, curated seasons, cinema from Iranian women, the cinema of Gaza, the Jewish Film Festival. That breadth, that’s our place. But that requires subsidy and will always require subsidy, because of the nature of what we do.”
Things to do
Tuesday
🎭 Improv comedy; either your worst nightmare or absolute dream way to spend an evening. For the latter folk, Glasgow Improv Theatre is running its monthly ‘cage match’ event, pitting teams against each other, with 20 minutes to win over audiences. Entry is pay what you want.
Wednesday
❤️ Hate the apps? Entering the prime of life (40-55) and looking to meet more people? Join other singles at the George Square Alchemist for an evening of dating at speed. It’s not as scary as it seems, we promise. Tickets from £24.54.
Thursday
📚 One of Granta Best Young British Novelists 2023 hits the city, with her new collection of short stories. Eliza Clark, who’s carved out a name with her shockingly dark (and darkly funny) novels will be at Argyle Street Waterstones, presenting ‘She’s Always Hungry’. Tickets from £5.
Friday
⚽ In 2019, a unique Palestinian football academy was launched in Bethlehem’s Aida Refugee Camp: Aida Celtic. As the name suggests, the initiative has links to Glasgow — it’s supported by the Celtic F.C ultras group, the Green Brigade. Now Aida Celtic representatives are in the city for an ‘international solidarity tour’. Tickets here.
Saturday
🎁 Christmas fayre (the ‘y’ is imperative) season is upon us. We can’t think of a better way to kick off than with Glasgow Women’s Library’s feminist spin on the festive market. Grab an original copy of Spare Rib as a stocking filler for the equality campaigner in your life (everyone, we hope). Free entry.
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