You’re having a laugh: Tommy Sheridan launches his campaign for re-election to Holyrood, despite being plagued by scandal, jailed for perjury and outed as a mad shagger, the Tommy Sheridan Circus is back in town for another show, if he gets in oh how Nicola Sturgeon will be upset, don’t worry Nicola, there is no chance…….. he will want to get between your legs!

Dear All

One of the major drawbacks to Tommy Sheridan’s career since he was put in jail for perjury was to come clean and say ‘sorry’, however Sheridan decided to go the other way and boldly declare he was an innocent man.

There was one slight problem…… he was found guilty with enough evidence and witnesses to sink a battleship.

In the years since he was released, he used the Scottish independence campaign to re-invent himself, this upset some people on the Yes Scotland and his party Solidarity was excluded from the SNP front in Hope Street. Yes Scotland had cobbled together the SSP and the Scottish Greens to make up the coalition of the damned.

Sheridan after he was told he was not welcome in the ‘inclusive’ Yes Camp despite the fact he had a ‘tan’ and could pass for a Syrian went out and did his own thing, so, Hope over Fear was born. This vehicle gave Sheridan a platform to speak and in some respects, he stolen some of the thunder away from unpopular Nicola Sturgeon, although Sturgeon can do angry, she can’t do public speaking well and come across natural.

No matter how hard she tries, she has all the conviction of a used car salesman.

Tommy Sheridan on the other hand is a good speaker, although he overuses the ‘brother, sister and comrade’ bit to death. I grew up in Pollok like Sheridan but I never was one of the ‘mucker division’; too much BBC 2 when I was younger I suppose.

Hope over Fear had a decent bit of publicity because the press love Sheridan, but it isn’t true love, just give him enough rope to hang himself and they will haul him up. So, on the back of his success, and a few rallies, complete with face painting, Sheridan is now on the campaign trail. He is standing again for Holyrood, will he be welcomed, the answer is no, I would imagine that he would be as ‘popular’ as Bill Walker since his case involved lying and sex. The SNP and their ‘allies’ won’t be brothers in arms with him, quite the opposite, of course being ignored by Sturgeon’s crew isn’t really a punishment, after all they are drones for the most part not worth talking to in the first place.

I have to say, it would be hilarious to see Sheridan at Holyrood as an FU to Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. I like comedy, however, it seems that this ‘production’ might never go ahead, Sheridan has too big a mountain to climb.

Everest!

Before I got caught up in my life and death event last night, I was going to stand for Holyrood, then my illness came and I had a long wait to see if I had cancer, and then of course being in and out of multiple hospitals, having to get nurses to come to my home, then getting an operation rather sank that idea. I wanted to stand either in Pollok or on the Glasgow list; I was toying with standing in Sturgeon seat but ruled that out. If I couldn’t do a proper campaign as I wanted then I couldn’t justify doing it myself.
Former MSP Tommy Sheridan doesn’t to my mind seem to be doing enough to get elected, and his old outfit, the SSP is now become RISE, on top of that there is speculation that Ukip may get 6 MSPs in Scotland. Everything however is still up in the air post indy vote, some people on the Conservative side are claiming they will be the second party at Holyrood displacing the Labour Party.

In a first past the post seat Tommy Sheridan has no chance, mainly because his party; Solidarity are not active enough, social media can hide a lot of sins but they can’t hide, not doing enough on the ground week in week out.

With no chance of winning FPTP seat; the best option is the Glasgow list, and hope to pull enough votes across Glasgow to swing a list seat. Tommy Sheridan is a big brand name but his brand is tainted beyond repair, his case for perjury is still fresh in people’s minds, and if it isn’t the newspapers will remind people. Tommy Sheridan rose and Tommy Sheridan fell, the media built him up and then they helped his downfall.

His wife Gail is also running for Holyrood, and she is first on the list for the West of Scotland region. If she is campaigning full time, then she is unlucky to get in, and although the Sheridan’s will be saying all the ‘right things’, you need people to stop and listen. I doubt he will get the opportunity but stranger things happen at sea.

Tommy Sheridan wants Nationalists to give him their list vote in Glasgow; this is a tactic he has been running with for some time, the polls show the SNP still enjoying success based on the misguided belief by people that Nicola Sturgeon is going to deliver independence when in fact she isn’t going to be delivering….. nothing!

It takes a while for some people to grasp they have been conned, I would imagine that Sturgeon wants two terms as FM before rapping and going onto the SNP backbenches citing health reasons, of course that would be 8 years of circa £144k in the bank.

So what about Sheridan’s main claim of  securing a second independence referendum, well not to put a fine point on it, that is just dick! Tommy Sheridan whether in or out of Holyrood cannot deliver anything to do with independence, it is just an illusion, smoke and mirrors, a hollow campaign with nothing to back it up.

All rubbish and all bullshit.

Scottish independence has come and gone, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon buried it by lying, their supporters killed by cybernattery and thuggery, Westminster has stated the ‘once in a generation’ is exactly that and even Nicola Sturgeon wouldn’t put it in her manifesto unless there is slippage in the SNP vote.

If Tommy Sheridan gets back into Holyrood as an MSP, it will be a miracle, but as we should remember, Sydney Greenstreet famously said:

“We might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles”.
Finally, to show I am a good sport, the last word goes to Sheridan:

"I urge the people of Glasgow not to waste their second vote. Make it count by giving it to Solidarity and elect me to fight for a second independence referendum, public ownership of public services and trade union rights, and fight against the renewal of Trident, the Tory austerity agenda, fracking, poverty and inequality."

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University