Papa Thewliss is 95

I'm very lucky to have three of my grandparents around - the eldest of the three is Papa Thewliss, who turned 95 last Monday.

Alexander and I popped round to bring him whisky, cake and balloons.

New arrival

The blog's been a wee bit quiet this past few weeks - I went into hospital last Saturday, 3rd July, and delivered a 7lb12 baby boy, who we've named Alexander Joseph Wright.

I'd really like to thank all the staff at the Princess Royal, who were very helpful, patient and supportive. They helped me get breastfeeding established, despite some initial difficulties, for which I'm hugely grateful. I really couldn't have coped without them.
Thanks also to Gordon Thomson, who did a lovely write-up in the Evening Times on Wednesday. It was nice to come home to!

I'm really looking forward to getting out and about over the summer and introducing wee Alexander to the world!

Planning for the weeks ahead

Regular readers will that know I'm pregnant and, all being well, due on the 27th of June. I've still been doing my best to make it to events in my ward and committees, and hope to continue to do so until the baby arrives. Clearly, it's impossible to tell when that will be, but I will put the news up on here (or at the very least on the twitter feed in the wee box above my photo) as soon as I can!

Afterwards, I hope you'll not hold it against me if I'm not able to deal with your enquiries personally and instantly - I will however have support from a secretary in the City Chambers, who can help with most Council matters. I'll still be able to respond to emails and calls on my blackberry, and will have a laptop set up so that I can work from home. I hope to pursuade some of my colleagues to help with surgeries in the first few weeks til I find my feet.

I don't intend to take 'formal' maternity leave - I just can't imagine taking six months away from the hustle and bustle of the Council. There's also no-one to cover for me in my absence as there would be in a 'normal' job, and I don't want to let my constituents, my colleagues and my party down.

It might help if I explain that Councillors aren't 'employees' in the normal sense, in that we're not technically required to turn up to work every day. Obviously, a Councillor would be doing a pretty poor job if that were the case, and I can't think why in the normal course of events you would do that. The penalty for not showing up for an extended period of time is disqualification - dealt with in Section 35 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which states:

"if a member of a local authority fails throughout a period of six consecutive months to attend any meeting of the authority, he shall, unless the failure was due to some reason approved by the authority, cease to be a member of the authority."

The Council seem to be quite prepared to allow me to work flexibly, bringing the baby in with me to work, and I hope that community organisations will allow me to do the same.

I want to be available to my constituents, and I would like to reassure people that I'm not going anywhere - I live in Dennistoun and will still be out and about!

Back home...

I got the chance on Saturday to go back to my roots - Carluke SNP were hosting a celebration party for the many Councillors they got elected to South Lanarkshire Council, and for the election of Aileen Campbell MSP.

Carluke is my home town, and where I first joined the SNP at the age of seventeen. I was only able to attend a few branch meetings there before I headed off to Aberdeen for Uni, and I wasn't back in Carluke for long before I headed off to Brussels, and then later Glasgow. Despite that, the branch members in Carluke welcomed me in on Saturday, and treated me as if I'd never been away. I even got to participate in the frog race twice! It was great to see everyone again.

I always feel like the SNP is like a family - people care about each other. I hope that never changes.