Dear All
It is always nice to be the front runner,
in an election but that doesn’t mean you can just sit back and coast. Jackie
Baillie looks to be the favourite of the Scottish Labour deputy leader contest
after she gained a healthy 60 nominations. Glasgow councillor Matt Kerr took 33
nominations, Glasgow MSP Pauline McNeill managed 17 and Dundee councillor
Michael Marra did not meet the nominations threshold. Michael Marra is related
to Jenny Marra, the MSP; his failure means he doesn’t to make it to the next round.
I suspect his failure is more due to his low profile and distance from the
central belt.
If you don’t find this race to be exciting,
it is because at this stage, the wider membership doesn’t get a look in at
present. Of the 60 nominations for Baillie, 48 came from councillors, 11 from
fellow MSPs and one from Scottish Labour's only MP, Ian Murray. To appear
on the member's ballot, candidates will now have to win nominations from at
least 5% of Scottish Labour's constituency Labour parties or three affiliated
organisations.
The low polling of Glasgow MSP Pauline
McNeill is bad news for her, the chances of her winning now seem remote and that
means she has no chance of getting the top spot of the Glasgow list for
Holyrood. Glasgow MSP Pauline McNeil will have to do the hard slog of
campaigning for votes in what might be a very crowded field for the list. Depending
on voter intentions and and the political situation more or less remain the
same, the Scottish Labour Party in Glasgow is looking for 4 list seats. It is
highly doubtful they will win any first past the post, despite the talk of
renewal of the party, it is highly unlikely anything remotely positive will be
brought in before Holyrood 2021.
Scottish Labour has a habit of doing
reviews and then nothing changes!
So, we are looking at a two horse race,
between Jackie Baillie and Glasgow councillor Matt Kerr. Jackie Baillie is the
more experienced, she is the more polished performer and she is a proven
winner, you would think this would make her an obvious choice. But Scottish
politics doesn’t seem to work that way, dreadful people who are inept sometimes
get elevated and bring the entire party down. This is the scenario which has
been played out in the leadership of this party for nearly two decades. And
with a push towards federalism it is a party which is in ‘train terms’ heading
for a ‘siding’, how long it will be parked there is anyone’s guess. But the
change to come out of the siding is that federalism has no traction with the
people of Scotland.
You are either in the Indy camp, fake
independence control by the EU or full pro UK!
The journey that Scottish Labour wants to
play with federalism is much like a state of unawareness of the mood of the
electorate; some in Scottish Labour think federalism will return Labour voters
back to the fold. The people of Scotland have been crying out for a social change
agenda. Scottish Labour instead wants to offer them something they didn’t ask
for, something they don’t want, and something which will not revive the party’s
own fortunes.
When Jim Murphy did his ill fated 2015
election campaign, he started his campaigning complaining about Scottish couldn’t
get a pint at a football game and repeal of the fitba act. Neither of these
issues were the province of Westminster. Literally he was treating the voters
with a kind of contempt which in retrospect he should have known better. Does
the booze and fitba act fit into the social change agenda that Scots cried out
for?
No!
So, why did he run his campaign with this?
The fact is that Scottish Labour has spent
too much time telling people what they want to give them rather than what they
are asking for. The mentality of ‘we are managers’ of the people puts them at
odds with what they were elected to be servants of the people. This is why
Scottish Labour struggles to win seats never mind elections. They aren’t
willing to compromise the mentality that cost them any chance of government.
This is why a cull is needed in Scottish Labour, and if the cull has to be deep
and right back to the bone, it should be.
Baillie said on her success:
"I am delighted to see so many of my
Scottish Labour colleagues putting their faith in me to become the next deputy
leader of the Scottish Labour Party and I thank them for their support. Over
the next few weeks, I will be travelling the length and breadth of the country,
listening to the views of members and supporters. For Scottish Labour to win
again, we must first understand the reasons for our losses. I have seen, first
hand, the positive change that Scottish Labour can make to individuals,
communities and our country, when we are in power. I look forward to working
alongside members in the fight to rebuild our Party and regain the trust of
Scots everywhere."
If elected the main task for her will be to
addressed and reform Scottish Labour and how it works, and if this means a
clear out of staff, then so be it, when you keep changing the ‘manager’ and the
Team keeps losing, you have to review the whole operation. Scottish Labour has
had leaders from the left and Right but still they keep losing, clearly there
is a problem. Jackie Baillie needs to be the candidate that can bring unity to
the Scottish Labour Party. It will not be an easy task.
In a recent article, former Labour MP Paul
Sweeney wrote about Scottish Labour’s constant infighting. He hit out at the
“relentlessly malicious briefings and leaks” being targeted at leader Richard
Leonard, and said his party must “refocus” and come together for the sake of
the Scottish electorate. He also said something which I have blogged on continuously,
Scottish Labour need to focus on the domestic agenda.
He said:
“I find it extraordinary that there isn’t
an effective opposition in Holyrood, which could have wiped the floor with the
SNP by now. We need to get back on to the domestic agenda. There are a litany
of issues, around health, education, justice. The ‘SNP bad’ response is not
cutting any ice the way it used to. People are now seeing that things
are not good”.
Pointing out how things are bad however is
not enough, to be seen to be a government in waiting you have to provide solutions
and not just during the six week of an election period. It is true there isn’t
an effective opposition being led against the SNP in Holyrood, and hasn’t been
for nearly over a decade.
Finally, any vote for any other candidate
other than Jackie Baillie is in my opinion a wasted vote, all sections of the
party need to have a voice, and it will not come from having two Corbynistas at
the top. If Jackie Baillie is not elected as deputy leader, chances of unity
are nil, chances of winning seats back are low, and chances of winning a
Holyrood election are a distant dream. Another issue which needs to be
addressed is Richard Leonard raising his game on policy and presentation, maybe
then Scottish Labour becomes viable once and if the internal reforms are done.
UPDATE; Pauline McNeill drops out of race.
UPDATE; Pauline McNeill drops out of race.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
1 comment:
Good news for Scottish Labour I suppose then?
Post a Comment