INTERESTING fact: In the last four decades East Dunbartonshire has been held by all four major parties in Scotland, surely a claim few other constituencies can make.
In the minds of the contenders at least, this remains a three-way fight where supporters of the fourth could be vital.
While the dominant narrative around Scotland's changed political landscape focuses on the death of traditional Labour, East Dunbartonshire's political conundrum is where the middle classes may go.
The LibDems and current MP Jo Swinson believe they can hold it. For Labour, its officially its the 'No.1 gain' target.
Only 40 per cent voted Yes last September and the SNP came fourth in 2010. But tactical voting is oft deployed in the area and the Nationalists have performed well in every election since the last Westminster poll. They may be favourites.
Notably, Westminster, the constitutional question and local matters will likely have equal influence in the polling booths.
Pitching herself as 'the local champion' and attempting to build on her (well-earned some say) reputation as hard-working local MP, Swinson has been also been tapping into local matters, notably roads and schools.
But the long-waned attraction of the LibDems in 2005 to the middle classes north of Glasgow, notably its position on the Iraq War and personal appeal of Charles Kennedy, and the impact of five years in Government will take its toll.
In a seat where so many families sends kids to university the LibDem's tuition fees u-turn will loom large. Also problematic is the issues of roads and schools Swinson is seeking to capitalise on are the responsibility of the local council, where the LibDems are part of the ruling coalition. It hasn't gone unnoticed.
A LibDem hope is that people who voted no from other parties will back the sitting MP to keep the SNP out.
Ms Swinson said recently: "This is going to be between myself for the LibDems and the SNP.
"The SNP surge in the polls is a topic on the doorsteps. We had a 60% no vote in East Dunbartonshire but the SNP are experiencing that surge in East Dunbartonshire just as they are in the rest of the country and many people are worried the SNP could win."
"I've had Conservative and Labour voters saying they will vote Liberal Democrat to stop the SNP.
"It is going to be close. I think I can win."
Labour's Amanjit Jhund is looking to overturn the slender majority of 2184 and return it to Labour after two defeats.
Glasgow-born and previously an NHS doctor for 8 years, he stood for Labour in Windsor in 2010. Although dogged by recent employment by the consultancy firm which helped design the Coalition Government's NHS reforms in England some Labour folk believe the rather thorny of the future of a local Catholic school may be as significant.
Andrew McFadyen was on the shortlist for Labour candidates in a neighbouring seat and is one of the organisers of the Save St Joseph's campaign.
He said: "East Dunbartonshire saw a big swing to Labour in 2010 and it has been clear for a long time that Jo Swinson's coat is on a very shoogly peg.
"The problem for Amanjit Jhund is that some of his local councillors are acting as recruiting sergeants for the SNP.
"East Dunbartonshire Council's determination to push through an unpopular school closure programme against massive opposition from parents has alienated supporters and badly damaged his chances.
"If Labour really wants to win here then the party leadership need to get involved and start knocking heads together."
The SNP have placed their hopes in former BBC journalist John Nicolson, whose job is to increase the SNP's 10% share of the vote in 2010.
Ian Mackay is SNP leader on the local council. He said: "This is no longer a three-horse race. The LibDems have collapsed and Jo Swinson is panicking.
"Her problem with the personal vote is the LibDem/Labour/Tory coalition is responsible for the things she is complaining about.
"Meanwhile, we're making people aware of her voting record at Westminster and the LibDem role in the Coalition.
"I'm also not sure how important tactical voting will be. There's no love lost between any of the other parties and their supporters will not switch to a rival en masse."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article