The Labour Party’s candidate is Dr Kainde Manji. Kainde has lived in Stirling for over 22 years, first attending our university as a student, before working as a dementia researcher.
As a life-long Labour member, her connections with the party run deep. Her story with politics and the Labour Party began when she was just 13 years old, effectively at the beginning of Scottish politics post-devolution.
She said: “My mum stood as a councillor in 1997, and I went out knocking doors with her for the first time then and just loved it. I loved speaking to people.”
Manji personal experiences in her work and research also motivated her to get involved in politics and advocate for change, particularly within the Scottish NHS.
“Seeing the failures of the health and social care system, really up close and personal… and so, I think, well I could try and get involved and fix some of the problems that I see happening,” she said.
Central to Manji’s campaign is the value of local communities, particularly the rural areas within the Stirling constituency. She cites public transport as an example of where these communities have been left behind.
She said: “People told me that they wouldn’t put their kids on buses to Stirling because there’s no guarantee that there would be a bus to bring them back.
“Scottish Labour believes strongly in municipalisation of bus services, so bringing them back under local authority… Again, to give communities much more control over the transport they’re able to get.”
In terms of changes for students, Kainde was scarce, since Scottish Labour had not published a higher education manifesto at the time of our interview, and Stirling University does not fall within the Stirling constituency.
“We are committed to not reintroducing fees in Scotland, but we are committed to ensuring young people can achieve their potential in whatever area they want to go into,” she said.
On students as a whole, Manji told Brig: “Students are citizens… many of you will have been let down personally by John Swinney the way he dealt with exam results from COVID… The most important thing: register to vote, whether you’re voting at home or whether you’re voting here.”
Image credit: Dr Kainde Manji official portrait via Scottish Labour