Councillor Sally Pattle has been selected as the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for the Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency in the General Election.
Sally grew up in Linlithgow and graduated from St Andrews University in 2000 with a degree in Modern History and International Relations. She enjoyed several careers before falling into bookselling, including being an anti-social behavior officer in not-so-sunny Plymouth and a stint teaching English at a university in very sunny Seville, Spain.
After returning to live in Scotland in 2012, Sally worked for Birlinn Ltd, one of Scotland’s leading publishers, before going to work with her mum full-time at Far From The Madding Crowd, Linlithgow’s award-winning bookshop – a thriving business at the heart of the community. In addition to running the bookshop, she also started two book festivals, including a free schools festival, which remain the only book festivals in West Lothian.
Sally first joined the Liberal Democrats in 1997 and, after moving back to Linlithgow in 2016, was instrumental in restarting the West Lothian Liberal Democrat branch. She has stood as a Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Linlithgow in every election since 2017, and in 2022 she was the first Lib Dem to be elected at any level in West Lothian for over 40 years when she became a Councillor for the Linlithgow Ward.
Following years of campaigning, Sally has shown that by raising awareness of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and their values and how they relate to local issues, it is possible to win.
On being the candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk in the upcoming Westminster General Election, Sally says:
“I’m so proud to be able to represent the Scottish Liberal Democrats at the next Westminster election and to fight for the Bathgate & Linlithgow seat. To be able to stand up for values I believe in, to call for real change and to get a fair deal for everyone, and to do that for the area I grew up in and am lucky enough to live and work in, means everything. I’m looking forward to campaigning, meeting lots of people and for the opportunity to raise awareness of our Liberal Democrat policies.”
Sally is married and lives with her husband, their dog and a story-telling guinea pig called Batsheba in Linlithgow.