She says she is \u201cproud to be\u201d standing in the constituency. Although this is he first time she has ever stood as a political candidate, this is the area where she has lived for the past ten years after moving north from Grimsby.<\/p>\n
Ms Ryan-Saha said: \u201cI\u2019m a brand new candidate in a brand new constituency, which is very exciting, but I\u2019m standing as a long-term Scottish Labour member who cares about where I stay and has really deep roots in the community. This may be a new constituency, but it\u2019s very much my old familiar turf and I\u2019m really proud to be representing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And she has a personal reason for standing for political office \u2013 to try to improve public services. Eleanor explained that one of her children was born with a disability and is also neurodivergent. While she said they are thriving, her child will need extra support while they are young and they will need a lot in terms of social care as they grow into adulthood. <\/p>\n
Eleanor said: \u201cSo this is really a lot of the reasons that I\u2019m standing. This is something that a lot of folks on the doors are echoing back to me \u2013 that whilst Edinburgh is a great place to stay, we know that the public services that we all rely on when things are hard, when we have challenges, they\u2019re not in the state they need to be in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe moved up here over a decade ago and we\u2019re raising our children here and we\u2019ve had a fantastic experience living in Edinburgh, it\u2019s a fantastic place to raise kids. But what we\u2019ve found is in terms of public services, things are not quite where they should be. So we have had the experience as a family.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ve got that feeling of uncertainty and insecurity and we don\u2019t feel that the services that we rely on will be there in those times of need. So I\u2019m talking about education, but also the NHS and police. A lot of my journey has been initially learning how to be the parent and carer to a disabled young person, which is a journey and I learn things every day. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I am also learning how to navigate those systems. And professionally that\u2019s changed me as well. I was trained \u2013 in the constituency actually \u2013 to be a primary school teacher and I enjoyed teaching immensely.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve transferred in my career and now I work for a child disability charity and my main role is to support families in the challenges they\u2019re facing, to work within systems and to try and get the most out of a public service that is not where it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked for her suggestion about what could be done to improve matters for those who need to use social or other services, Eleanor said that while everyone knows that these services have to be paid for somehow \u2013 and that \u201ctraditionally Scottish Labour has maybe been the party of social policy\u201d \u2013 the party is also strong on business and economic policy in the manifesto. <\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe know that we need good green sustainable growth in order to fund these public services. But it\u2019s true we have huge devolved powers here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of say in how the NHS runs here and how schools run and how policing happens. And those are the three key areas that folks are reporting day in and day out that they feel they\u2019ve been let down in and these services are not where they should be. So, our vision for change focuses hugely on getting the NHS to where it should be and education and policing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As to the specifics of how that would happen Ms Ryan said it is about making better choices in terms of things like workforce management. and to embrace technology. <\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI think the NHS is a great example of that. There\u2019s an app in England that health boards have been using for a long time that would help patients like my daughter in her care because it will allow the patient to have their records all in one place. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople using the NHS for medical reasons are dealing with lots of specialists and have lots of information flowing about. And in Scotland, this is an absolute nightmare. This is getting in the way of people receiving life-saving care. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would immediately be looking at procuring an app that would work in a similar way within the NHS and deliver it straight away. The SNP are committed to developing a type of technology that would achieve similar goals, but they want to buy the app that\u2019s already in existence, and as a result they\u2019re looking at a turnaround that will be more like 2030. It\u2019s not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
While talking about apps and technology the conversation naturally turned to data centres. She agreed that this is \u201cpotentially the biggest challenge that we\u2019re facing in government and out of government\u201d. <\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be the defining technology for our generation. What Scottish Labour will commit to do is take this seriously and work hard within the Scottish AI strategy to make sure that we\u2019re making the right choices for Scotland. And these are choices that have energy implications, moral implications.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really wide ranging and important topic and we would absolutely prioritise making the right decisions for Scotland as far as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TER-20260430-DSC01991.jpg\")
Eleanor Ryan-Saha, Scottish Labour candidate in Edinburgh Northern<\/p>\n