Sheila Gilmore

Sheila Gilmore has been selected to fight the seat of Edinburgh East following the announcement of current MP Gavin Strang that he intends to stand down at the next General Election.

Sheila Gilmore served as an Edinburgh councillor for a number of years. She also contested the Edinburgh Pentlands seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections.

Martin Donald

Martin Donald is 25 and has lived most of his life in the Portobello area of Edinburgh.  He attended Duddingston Primary School and then following that Portobello High School.  On leaving in 2001 he went on to study for an MA in History and Politics at Aberdeen University, graduating in 2005 with upper second class honors. Following a brief internship with the Scottish Conservative Press Research Unit he began working as a researcher for Edinburgh Pentlands MSP, David McLetchie.  Martin still lives locally and retains close family links with the area.  He names cooking, travelling and the reading of political and historical biographies amongst his hobbies. 

Martin's first serious involvement with politics came when he volunteered in Edinburgh during the 2005 General election where amongst other campaigns he helped Gavin Brown (now Lothians list MSP) in Edinburgh South. Following that he was heavily involved with the successful campaign to re-elect David McLetchie in Edinburgh Pentlands (where he managed to double his majority) and the local government campaigns in Craigentinny & Duddingston and Portobello & Craigmillar wards.

George Kerevan

George is a journalist and broadcaster. His political and business columns appear weekly in The Scotsman and his television documentaries have been shown on both sides of the Atlantic.

He served three terms as a local councillor in Edinburgh and is a former chair of Edinburgh Tourist Board. He also served on the Scottish Enterprise local board for Edinburgh, on the Edinburgh Festival council and founded the Edinburgh Science Festival.

Born in Glasgow, he was educated at Kingsridge Secondary, Drumchapel. He studied at Glasgow University, where he gained a first class degree in political economy.

Beverley Hope

Beverley was born in Edinburgh's Eastern General and, aside from two spells at university, has lived in Edinburgh all her life.

Inspired by the Liberal Democrat stance on Iraq, Beverley joined the Party in 2002. Following university, Beverley returned to Edinburgh to work in Liberal Democrat target seat Edinburgh South before taking up a full-time position working for John Barrett MP in Edinburgh West.

In particular, Beverley cares about the promotion of social fairness and civil liberties. As a result of her studies, she also takes a strong interest in European and International affairs.