ELECTION fever hits Fife today as the General Election takes place.

Four MPs will be chosen for the Kingdom with voters seeing some changes at the ballot box after a shake up to the political boundaries.

The Dunfermline and West Fife constituency has changed to Dunfermline and Dollar with other constituencies being Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Mid Fife and North East Fife.

After sitting MP Douglas Chapman announced his plans to step down, the new Dunfermline and Dollar seat will be contested by two councillors, Naz Anis-Miah for the SNP and Graeme Downie for Labour, as well as Ryan Blackadder for the Scottish Green Party.

Lauren Buchanan-Quigley is the Liberal Democrat candidate, George Morton is standing as an independent and the Conservatives have Thomas Heald in the running. 

Dunfermline and Dollar

THE newly named Dunfermline and Dollar constituency replaces Dunfermline and West Fife and boundary changes will see voters from as far north as Yetts of Muckhart casting their vote, as well as Forestmill and Dollar.

Kelty West also moves into the constituency area.

Those looking to fill the post previously held by long-serving MP Douglas Chapman are Naz Anis-Miah (SNP), Graeme Downie (Labour), Lauren Buchanan-Quigley (Liberal Democrats), Ryan Blackadder (Scottish Green Party), Udo van den Brock (Reform UK), Graham Hadley (Independent), Thomas Heald (Conservatives), George Morton (Independent) and Danny Smith (Scottish Family Party).

We asked all candidates for a submission. Udo van den Brock did not respond.

Naz Anis-Miah (Scottish National Party)

Naz, 45, was elected as councillor for Dunfermline South in 2022 and is a dedicated representative and passionate advocate for his community.

A single parent of two young children, he is an enthusiastic supporter of Dunfermline Athletic and a dedicated businessman.

A Scottish born child of immigrant parents who made a life in Scotland, he strongly advocates for independence and self-determination for Scotland.

Born and raised in the constituency, Naz attended St Leonard’s Primary School and has deep connections throughout the area.

His best quality is that he is a people person, his greatest strength is his understanding and empathy for those people facing hardships, hardships that he has faced himself.

Having lost his mother at a young age, he understands that young people need support from experience and that is why he finds easy to connect with them and works closely with them across our different communities.

Naz’s believes that Scotland has been adversely affected by decisions from an unwanted Westminster government which has imposed austerity, driving families and SMEs into poverty.

The cost of living and business crises are exacerbated by an unwanted Brexit.

Naz advocates for keeping energy created in Scotland within the country to reduce energy bills and improve living standards.

Through extensive engagement with constituents and businesses, he understands their struggles and shares their concerns.

As MP, he pledges to ensure that everyone can "raise their head above the water and start to breathe".

Voting for the SNP means rejecting austerity, supporting a return to Europe and building a better future for Scotland.

His vision for Dunfermline and Dollar includes fostering more SMEs to create jobs and boost the economy, aiming for the lowest child poverty rates in an independent Scotland.

Naz is committed to stepping forward for the needs of the people, striving for a future made in Scotland, for Scotland.

Ryan Blackadder (Scottish Greens)

The Scottish Greens are the only party at this election offering a real plan for tackling the climate emergency and creating a fairer society.

Dunfermline and Dollar is a great place to live, but 14 years of Tory austerity and the threat of the climate crisis hangs over our communities.

This election is our chance to demand better.

I am a Dunfermline native and studied Business Management at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh before joining the railway.

I spent several years as a railwayman and RMT trade union rep before venturing into politics.

As a proud trade unionist, I continue to fight to protect and improve workers' rights on the railway and across Scotland’s public sector.

Our future lies in green industries and sustainable travel, not oil and gas.

The Scottish Greens' plans to tax frequent flyers and private jets would raise billions of pounds that we’d use to fund investment in cleaner, greener alternatives, like reopening the Dunfermline to Alloa railway, and re-establish low carbon ferry routes from Rosyth to Europe, so people have a real alternative to flying.

Our £28 billion Green New Deal investment programme would bring jobs to Rosyth in decommissioning, turbine manufacture and ferry retrofitting, building on the decades of skills and experience in our community.

And our plans to raise tax on the rich and scrap current tax breaks and incentives for polluting oil and gas giants would bring in at least £130 billion for our communities – that’s how we ensure we have good doctors surgeries, schools, and community facilities for the new houses being built around Dunfermline

We can have a bright future here in Dunfermline and Dollar, but only if we seize this opportunity and vote for real and meaningful change at this election.

Vote like your future depends on it – vote Scottish Greens.

Lauren Buchanan-Quigley (Lib Dem)

I live locally in Dunfermline and moved here with my family after enjoying studying at the Dunfermline campus of Fife College.

I am proud to stand for Dunfermline and Dollar to fight for local issues as we deserve to have properly funded services, the SNP have underfunded services across the board and my plan is to fight to make sure everyone has access to the amenities they need.

People deserve better, cheaper and reliable transport.

As a non-driver I need to use the bus myself, and we deserve a better bus service which I will push for.

I want a fair deal for our NHS, so I am fighting to bring back services to the Queen Margaret Hospital.

In Fife Council, the Liberal Democrat group have been leading efforts to try and bring back services to the QMH and myself and local councillors have been running a petition to bring back services.

I am also calling for better access to GPs and more dentist appointments.

My plan also includes supporting local schools, Scottish schools have slid down the international tables and school violence has become a major issue.

I want an education system that supports pupils and teachers so I’m calling for more support staff in schools and measures to reduce violence to protect both pupils and staff.

Already local Liberal Democrat Councillors have got £500,000 at the recent council budget for additional educational psychologists.

I also want to work to get better cost of living support by pushing for a further windfall tax on energy companies to support families and small businesses.

Graeme Downie (Scottish Labour)

People in Dunfermline & Dollar want change. They want a UK government focused on their priorities: economic stability and growth; investment in public services; jobs and opportunities for young people; and better working conditions.

Only a UK Labour government can deliver that and help Dunfermline move on from the chaos of the Conservatives and the scandal of the SNP.

I live in Torryburn with my wife and two young daughters who attend local schools.

The people of Dunfermline and Dollar want a better future, where they have the opportunity to fulfil their own aspirations and reach their own ambitions.

A UK Labour government will: Provide funding for 160,000 NHS appointments every year in Scotland, by cracking down on tax avoidance and loopholes;

Improve access to apprenticeships, support first-time buyers and create 69,000 Scottish jobs in the clean energy industries of the future;

Set up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, headquartered here in Scotland, to cut bills and boost energy security, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants;

Pass a game-changing New Deal for Working People to ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire and deliver a genuine living wage;

End the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme so mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.

The time for sending messages to Westminster is over. It is time for Scotland to send a government. On July 4, you have the opportunity to elect a Labour government that will deliver for people in Dunfermline & Dollar and across the country.

It is an opportunity, we cannot afford to miss.

Graham Hadley (Independent)

Westminster is a disgrace and has deteriorated every year since 2000.

MP's seem to follow very personal ambitions.

Whilst postmasters have been penalised, so wrongly, and bad blood victims have suffered and died, MP's have taken pay rises and awarded themselves knighthoods, "for services to parliament".

An independent Scottish based MP can harry the government and protect old age pensioners.

Most party MP's are neutered by head office, so get an independent to serve Dunfermline and Dollar at every turn.

Do it gladly, vote for Hadley!

Such a positive vote will allow constant local representation on local issues.

Hadley relies on a state pension himself so will protect them for others, Hadley may soon need social care so he will campaign for improvement.

Hadley hates high taxes but knows they can only come down when we can afford it.

Hadley needs the NHS but appreciates all the problems. Run it better rather than just hurl good money after bad!

Above all, tell the truth and not offer loads of political lies.

Liars don't prosper, ask Boris Johnson. Campervan owners don't succeed, ask Nicola Strugeon.

Childish publicity stunts don't work, ask Ed Davey.

Scottish Labour is irrelevant if English Labour prospers, ask Starmer.

You can't trust the Westminster bubble, only an independent can burst it! Do it gladly, vote for Hadley.

At 78 years old (going on 50!) Hadley is not a career politician, cannot be bribed and does not need, or want, a knighthood.

He has never joined a political party and has a dim view of all the parasites who sit in the Commons whilst dodging tax, watching porn, bullying or placing silly bets.

MP's need to learn how to behave and act in the national interest. Hadley is happy to show them the way!

Thomas Heald (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

People across Dunfermline and Dollar have been frustrated with the negativity in Scottish politics for the last 17 years.

That is why I have a positive plan for the constituency that I would lead on if I have the privilege to be elected as your Member of Parliament.

Co-ordinating an action plan to attract much needed investment in our communities, campaigning for the restoration of full accident and emergency services at the Queen Margaret Hospital, pushing for the repair and upgrading of roads across Dunfermline, West Fife and Dollar, standing up for teachers, pupils and parents impacted by Scotland’s failing education system and supporting measures to lower tax bills for ordinary Scots, these will be my immediate priorities.

I have been on doorsteps across the constituency over the course of this campaign, and people are crying out for an MP who can get on with the job of making local people’s lives better, not using their time in parliament to stoke division.

Over the last eight years, I have served people across the constituency from behind the scenes and I hope that you will give me the opportunity to be your Member of Parliament on Thursday July 4.

George Morton (Independent)

Join the libertarian backlash!

The state must stop ripping us off for working and trading; we have a natural right to (a) the full product of our labour (b) trade freely with anyone, anywhere.

So, abolish taxes on earned income, plus VAT and import tariffs.

Revenue should be raised solely from publicly-created land values, currently mainly trousered by parasitic fat-cats in the city, the so-called rent seekers.

Further, the banks' privilege of creating money out of thin air (fractional deposit lending) must end.

From all the parties comes a deafening silence on our natural rights, which is why I'm standing as an independent.

Who am I ? Rosyth born-and-bred. No kids (by choice); two adopted cats. Graduate of Aberdeen Uni.

In 1985 I moved to Stuttgart, teaching English language for 25 years at college level.

From the start I was a political activist with 'die Gruenen', till they became obsessed with gender (as are the Scottish Greens).

In my last seven years I was an activist with the much-maligned AfD, which calls for an end to mass immigration, something we need in the UK too.

I am risking my £500 deposit to give folk the chance to vote for libertarian ideas; if you agree with what you've just read, please vote for me on Independence Day.

Danny Smith (Scottish Family Party)

I have been living in this constituency for 40 years.

I'm 66, have two children and four grandchildren.

Although now retired, my working background has been in communication, 29 years with BT and 11 and a half years in consultancy.

I am standing for the Scottish Family Party because I sincerely believe that its values and policies are what Scotland needs for stability, prosperity and true equality.

We need to stop the pendulum swinging between the major parties, breaking away from what is essentially more of the same.

If you really want a fundamental change in Scottish politics, vote for the Scottish Family Party on July 4.

Most certainly an opportunity to raise the profile of Dunfermline and Dollar on the national stage.