Political writer Pete McLeod wonders why so many Scottish Tory MSPs are keen to ditch Holyrood just a year into the new term
MUCH has been made by Tories and their friends in certain quarters of the press of the supposed revival of fortunes in Scotland. It is instructive, though, to look at the candidates the party has chosen to contest some of their top target seats in the General Election.
For beneath the surface of the great Tory revival yarn being spun is an inconvenient fact: many seats the party is boasting it can win back from the SNP are being contested by people who are already elected.
For a party seemingly on the rise in Scotland, it seems to have an awfully shallow pool of talent to draw upon. Many seem all too keen to jump ship to Westminster despite having only been elected a year ago, or in the case of one councillor, just this month – such is the esteem they hold both the Scottish Parliament and local government in.
Many seem all too keen to jump ship to Westminster despite having only been elected a year ago, or in the case of one councillor, just this month – such is the esteem they hold both the Scottish Parliament and local government in.
I had blithely assumed that the SNP’s Calum Kerr might have an advantage in his Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk contest as his previous Tory opponent at the close-run 2015 election went on to become an MSP in 2016.
I surmised that the Tories may be slightly weakened by having to choose a fresh candidate. How naïve I was. What actually happened was that the Tories’ John Lamont announced he was resigning his seat at the Scottish Parliament in order to fight the seat. Is there no other Tory talent, in the Borders of all places, that could have been chosen?
Another top target for the Tories is Moray, which at present is represented by SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson. This has been hyped up repeatedly as a possible coup for the Conservatives. Once again, the Conservatives are recycling the candidate who lost in 2015, Douglas Ross, who since 2016 has been an MSP and serves as justice spokesman for the party.
He has said he will resign his seat if elected to Westminster. Is there no other Conservative in Moray able or willing to fight an election?
Tory councillor Tom Kerr was only elected to the Shettleston ward in Glasgow last week but has already announced via social media that he will be contesting the Glasgow East seat at Westminster. In a not-so-great rallying call to supporters, he defended the move by claiming he didn’t stand much chance of getting in anyway.
A uniting theme in all of this is that it is hard to escape the conclusion that Scottish Tories still see Holyrood as “a wee pretendy parliament”, as Billy Connolly put it in the early days of devolution.
At a time where millennials are lambasted for their lack of loyalty to employers, the 20 year old isn’t doing his peers any favours. No wonder the public are sick of politicians when they act like this.
The Conservatives have chosen Miles Briggs MSP to take on the SNP’s Joanna Cherry in Edinburgh South West. A member of the health and sports committee and substitute member for the education and skills committee, Briggs is another MSP elected to the list who has only served one year.
Gordon Lindhurst, who unsuccessfully ran in the 2015 General Election is now, you guessed it, an MSP.
In Aberdeen, Ross Thomson is exceeding his peers by not only potentially giving up his seat at Holyrood but also his council seat in order to take on the SNP’s Callum McCaig in Aberdeen South. In an area where the Tories did well in the Scottish Parliament elections last year, it is illuminating that they are unable or unwilling to choose newcomers to take on the SNP in an area which should be relatively friendly to them.
A uniting theme in all of this is that it is hard to escape the conclusion that Scottish Tories still see Holyrood as “a wee pretendy parliament”, as Billy Connolly put it in the early days of devolution.
Sure, it is adequate as a stop-gap for their LinkedIn page, but it is not the Big Parliament with the pomp and ceremony and nooks and crannies and places to store one’s sword.
Sure, it is adequate as a stop-gap for their LinkedIn page, but it is not the Big Parliament with the pomp and ceremony and nooks and crannies and places to store one’s sword.
Scotland deserves representatives who will stick around for a full term and get on with the day job. It doesn’t say a lot for the Tory recovery if they have to yank MSPs and councillors away from their positions in order to field candidates.
Picture courtesy of David Thomson
Check out what people are saying about how important CommonSpace is: Pledge your support today.
