The Caledonian Mercury has invited some of those in the election firing-line to send regular bulletins about the personal side of campaigning. David McLetchie is a former leader of the Scottish Conservatives and is standing for re-election in Edinburgh Pentlands.Thursday 28 April Into the last week of what has seemed an interminable campaign with which the public has yet to engage despite our best efforts. I am out canvassing in Currie with a team of helpers and the results are pretty good. Work hard to persuade a fellow Hearts fan that I am worthy of at least one of his votes. Will be interesting to see the extent of split-ticketing. In 2007 I received just under 13,000 constituency votes in Pentlands but only 9,000 of them translated into list votes for the Conservatives. The Margo factor comes into play in Lothians on the list and the Greens also do well enough to have elected an MSP in each of the last three parliament elections in the person of Robin Harper, who is standing down this time after 12 years as a MSP. Just before the parliament broke up, I cast my first-ever vote for a Green in an election – it was for Robin in the election of board members of the National Trust for Scotland, in which he was successful. Robin is very well liked and respected – whilst some Green ideas would take us back to the horse-and-cart era and are plainly barking, others do offer an alternative view of the world which is worth consideration. In the early evening I attend the AGM of Smile Childcare, which runs a nursery in Wester Hailes and which I helped out when it ran into problems with its lease last year – thankfully now resolved, because a lot of families depend upon it. A number of mums and kids are there as well as staff and board members – one wee lad raises a laugh by his determination to talk to us at the top table, but he’s what it’s all about, so good on him. Friday 29 April The BIG DAY – no, it’s not about you Alex – as William and Catherine take centre stage and the election takes a back seat. I am not one for watching this sort of event for hours on end and oohing and aahing over the costumes, but the pageantry of it all is breathtaking, as is the precision of the organisation – so I end up watching the arrival and the ceremony. Saturday 30 April Multi-page spreads in the papers crowd out the election yet again. It’s hard to see that there are going to be any game-changing events now which swing votes, although there will be a lot of focus on the two TV leaders' debates this week. Today in the constituency is all about putting up our posters on lamp-posts. In Edinburgh, you can only do this in the last five days of the campaign. Our teams are at it for hours and put up around 500 posters on the main roads in the constituency and around the polling stations. By the time we finish, we have company from the SNP and there are a few Green and SSP posters on display as well, but no sign of Labour anywhere in the constituency. It would be nice to think Labour have given up on Pentlands and are focusing their efforts in seats such as Southern and Eastern Edinburgh where they are looking to beat the Lib Dems and the SNP respectively, but I take nothing for granted. Sunday 1 May The BBC leaders' debate is the big event, although it is not broadcast until 10:30pm which is hardly conducive to a big audience. Annabel [Goldie] does very well indeed with her straight-talking realism about the financial problems facing the country. When she talks about the need for a graduate contribution, she gets a positive audience response. This is a good example of where being brave pays and how the chattering classes can obscure public opinion. To listen to Salmond, Gray and Scott, as well as most of the pundits, you would think it's political death to contemplate asking graduates to pay something – but the polls show that the public agree with us. Annabel is giving voice to the opinions of people who are normally drowned out by the powerful lobbies in favour of the status quo.
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