The Scottish Parliament elections take place on Thursday, May 6. And last Tuesday (April 27), West Linton resident John Birchmore chaired a hustings featuring candidates from the five main parties. The candidates in attendance were Christine Grahame (SNP), Shona Haslam (Scottish Conservatives), AC May (Scottish Liberal Democrats), South of Scotland list candidate Laura Moodie (Scottish Greens) and Katherine Sangster (Scottish Labour). Mr Birchmore began the meeting by saying: "Can I ask the candidates not necessarily to just regurgitate the manifesto but tell us a bit about yourselves and what you can do for the constituency. "That's really what I'm hoping to do – to find out more about some of the candidates, how they are going to look after us."