Former council chief among seven candidates hoping to win Falkirk South by-election

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The former chief executive of Stirling Council is among seven candidates hoping to win the Falkirk South by-election on October 5.

Nominations have now closed for the Falkirk Council contest, which will take place on October 17, in Falkirk South, which covers the town centre and high flats, as well as Hallglen and Tamfourhill.

The SNP candidate is Carol Beattie, who was, until May this year, the chief executive of Stirling Council. Read more: Huge rise in violence against teachers and other Falkirk Council staff due to 'better reporting' Brought up in Hallglen and living in Falkirk town centre, Ms Beattie says it was a "real honour" to have been selected by the SNP as the party's candidate.She said: "As a local resident I am excited to see the progress being made in regenerating Falkirk Town Centre and encouraged by the investment our SNP administration is making on local housing across the Falkirk South ward."But I also know just how challenging things are for our people.“After years of Tory austerity hitting the pockets and opportunities of everyone in our communities, this new Labour government is already showing us the type of government they are going to be."People may have voted for change at the recent general election, on the understanding that things will get better, but they didn’t vote to make our pensioners colder or poorer."They also voted for someone to stand up for them and not be posted missing on crucial votes."SNP group leader, and leader of Falkirk Council, Cllr Cecil Meiklejohn, said: “To have a candidate of Carol’s calibre and skillset come forward to be our SNP candidate for Falkirk South is fantastic."The Labour party candidate, Claire Aitken, is a community activist from Hallglen.Former