IT is a worrying sign for anyone concerned about voter turnout in a December election. Around 100 members of the public would usually be expected at hustings held by Tron Kirk Gilmerton and Moredun, according to minister Cammy Mackenzie.

But with just days to go until the election, as rain batters down and the wind scatters bins over in the street, only around 40 people turn up on Thursday night to hear Edinburgh South candidates from the SNP, Greens, LibDems, Labour and Tories speak.

It doesn’t prevent some challenging questions, however, and the first put forward seems to present difficulties for Conservative Nick Cook.

When asked who they would prefer to see as Prime Minister, he struggles to praise his party leader.

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Cook draws comparisons with the 2016 US election when the choice was between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton – a choice of who voters “disliked the least”.

Describing Boris Johnson as a “Marmite politician”, he says: “I think we are looking at the least worst option of who I would choose to be the candidate for Prime Minister. He is the best choice that is available.”

Hardly a ringing endorsement. However Cook is unlikely to be meeting his boss at Westminster anytime soon, as Edinburgh South has been a Labour stronghold since 1987.

Ian Murray won the seat in 2017 with a large majority of 15,514 and he is defending it again, having comfortably fought off an attempt by Unite union members to deselect him earlier this year.

In 2016, he resigned as shadow Scottish secretary claiming then that he did not think Jeremy Corbyn was able to lead the party or be prime minister “in this moment in time”.

Now he tells the hustings audience that “the quicker that Jeremy Corbyn gets to Number 10, the better”.

Polls predict Murray will manage to fight off an SNP surge – and may be the only Labour MP left standing in Scotland. It would replicate the position of his party following the SNP landslide of 2015.

One of the residents who has braved the weather for the hustings is John Nichol, who says Murray has been “fairly effective” as a local MP.

He says: “He has had his problems at a national level and at a wider level, but not being of the Labour Party I don’t much care about that, I care about what he is doing for his ward and is he effective.

“I will be voting for the Green Party because of the environment and climate change.

“We have had Holyrood and Westminster declare a climate emergency, but they seem to have forgotten the emergency part of that, so I would like to see them held to account.

“But I am expecting Ian Murray to win again.”

The National:

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It is not long until the thorny issue of leaving the EU is raised, with a question asking candidates what they would do on Brexit. For once, there is some consensus over the issue, with the Green’s Kate Nevens, the SNP’s Catriona Macdonald, the LibDems’ Alan Beal and Murray all backing the idea of a People’s Vote.

Beal does not mention his party’s manifesto pledge to unilaterally revoke Article 50 if they are elected – a message championed by Jo Swinson at the beginning of the campaign which has since been dropped amid concerns about its unpopularity with voters.

The questions from the audience focus on national, rather than local issues – including abortion, devolution of drug policy and raising pension payments.

One member of the public quizzes the panel on how they will help support people on Universal Credit, as she tearfully describes her own experience of it.

A sharp intake of breath greets Tory candidate Cook when he explains his justification for keeping Trident as an independent nuclear deterrent against rogue states and because “it does create a lot of jobs on the Clyde”.

Macdonald explains she will never support Trident, particularly as she lived in Seoul at a time of heightened tensions between North and South Korea, when Donald Trump first became president.

“I saw what it looks like when you live next to a rogue state that has nuclear weapons,” she says.

“Every metro station in Seoul has gas masks, safety blankets, first aid supplies and every metro station is also a nuclear bunker. I don’t want us to live in a world like that.”

Murray says he is opposed to renewal of Trident and drew laughs when he quips in response: “I was in Canada recently and seeing how people live next to a rogue state as well.”

The issue of independence also provokes reactions from the audience, prompting cries of “no they didn’t” when Cook claimed that “Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon said the independence referendum was a once in a generation event”.

Beal argues the push for the second referendum next year is because “it’s all about the SNP worried about not being in power in 2021 when there is actually a parliamentary election. That is why it has to be next year.”

But it is the SNP and the Greens who win the most applause from the audience throughout the night, including for their views on Scottish independence.

Macdonald says the decisions on the future of Scotland should be taken by the people who live in the country, not by the Westminster government. She adds: “There is a clear mandate to have a second referendum – that is why we plan to have a referendum next year.”

The big question of whether the small audience at the hustings reflects any kind of shift in Edinburgh South will be seen when the nation goes to the polls on Thursday.

Despite a predicted surge in SNP votes nationally, a big swing would be required for Macdonald to win. If she did, she would become the first-ever female MP to represent the constituency – which was created in 1885.

Local resident Charmaine Doyle, who attended the hustings straight after leafleting for the SNP in the area, says she believes Macdonald and Nevens were the best performing candidates of the night.

She says: “I thought Ian Murray answered a lot of questions quite well, but it doesn’t mean I agreed with his answers.

“I didn’t feel the Conservative or the Liberal Democrat candidates seemed that well rounded or well versed. I think that showed.”

She says it’s hard to judge if the SNP, who came second in 2015 and 2017, can win enough votes to take the seat.

But she adds: “In terms of positive reaction on doorsteps, I would say it’s 50-50 for us.”