Sturgeon to start monthly Q&A with the public NICOLA Sturgeon is planning to submit herself to a monthly online inquisition by the public once she becomes First Minister as part of her attempt to demonstrate she will represent all the people in Scotland, not just those who have voted for the SNP. The use of question and answer sessions on social networking site Facebook has been used before but Ms Sturgeon is now planning to make it a regular feature of her approach as First Minister. A source close to the FM-elect said: Nicola is determined to lead an outward-looking government that is open and accessible to the public, and this innovation will help ensure the SNP remain close to the people we serve, regardless of how they vote. In the next few weeks Ms Sturgeon will undertake a speaking tour of some of the countrys biggest venues as she seeks to engage with a party that has more than trebled in size in the last month to over 80,000 members. These events, from Dumfries to Edinburgh, Dundee to Inverness, are aimed at this burgeoning number of new party members, but they are being invited to apply for two tickets so they can bring along a non-party member. An e-mail to members yesterday said many of the events were sold out and the biggest event, at the 12,000 seat SSE Hydro in Glasgow, was heading the same way. Meanwhile, a host of smaller meetings are taking place as the three contenders for SNP deputy leader and Deputy First Minister are travelling across the country speaking to local party branches - Juniper Green on the outskirts of Edinburgh last night, Carluke in Lanarkshire tonight, Anniesland in Glasgow, Oban, Fort William, Inverness and Linwood next week. No candidate is allowed access to the list of voters - the membership frozen at the point nominations for leader and deputy leader closed. Also, no branch is allowed to invite one candidate to speak without inviting all three. Stewart Hosie, the Dundee East MP and party Treasury spokesman at Westminster, said: The hustings I have so far taken part in have been friendly and well-attended and I look forward to attending the dozens more already in my diary. Keith (Brown) and Angela (Constance) are fantastic and respected Ministers and I am looking forward to joining them at hustings right across the country, where we will be putting forward our own views about the best way for our party to make progress. While Mr Hosie carries support from many Westminster colleagues and the backing of the Business for Scotland group, Transport Minister Mr Brown now has significant backing among Holyrood Ministers and backbenchers, as well as many councillors across the country. He said: This is a time when the SNP has to be looking forward - governing well but looking to the future with whatever additional powers come from the Smith Commission, but always working towards independence. We cant rerun Septembers referendum but we can build on the enthusiasm and energy that came from it. Ms Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Training, Women and Youth Employment, is making a virtue of her pitch away from fellow parliamentarians out to the party at large and, in particular, the influx of new members. Promising to listen to the new grassroots of the party, she is describing this campaign strategy as a marker of how she would conduct herself if elected. heraldscotland/politics/scottish-politics/sturgeon-to-start-monthly-qa-with-the-public.25616523 June, Annette, Wallace, Harry, Amy, Yes Giffnock
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:06:39 +0000
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