IndyGal MSP
As has been pointed out by various sources, the vacancy in Glasgow region is to be filled, by the sixth member of the SNP's List there: Anne McLaughlin, better known to bloggers as IndyGal.
And I reckon she'll do well: she's got a sound enough political brain to play a key role in the SNP's 22% swing from Labour in the Glasgow East By-Election, she's passionate, committed, infectiously enthusiastic and she's a good empathiser: that comes in handy in politics, even if it's a skill we don't see very often. But when she gets correspondence from someone in Glasgow, or when someone turns up at a surgery to see her, they're going to need her to be tuned in, hear them out, understand, and most importantly, care about them and the problem they've sought to raise. Anne will absolutely fit that bill.
But there's a knock-on effect that hasn't yet been mentioned: Anne had gone forward for ranking on the SNP's list of European candidates this year. Now, I'm reasonably confident that there's nothing theoretically stopping someone from being an MSP and an MEP (though an MP and an MEP is a different story, I believe) but it's not necessarily desirable and I don't envisage her remaining in the European selection process (UPDATE: turns out that there are no dual mandates at all: you can't be an MP and MEP, an MSP and MEP or even a Lord and MEP - so that's George Foulkes screwed - thanks to the commenter who pointed that out). If I'm correct, SNP members will now be ranking five candidates: incumbents Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith, SNP National Secretary Duncan Ross, European affairs expert Dr. Aileen McLeod and Highland Councillor Drew Hendry. I wouldn't be overly surprised if the two present MEPs were to retain their positions on the List, but recent political trends - even the Glenrothes By-Election - point to the SNP in touching distance not only of first place, but also a third seat. That makes #3 rankng on the List important, and I had imagined that Anne would have been a strong contender for it. With her at Holyrood, it's now anyone's game...
3 comments:
Do you think SNP will take three seats, with the total going down to six? It will take a big, big swing to do that, so third place on the list is probably not that big a prize.
Can't be an MSP and MEP - no dual mandates anymore. Not even for Lords and MEPs.
Anon 1: on current trends, the third seat is very much in play. In fact, a recent poll on the Euro elections (albeit with a small sample size, as it was a subset of a UK poll) suggested that both the SNP and Labour would definitely have two seats, the LibDems one, no Tories, and a toss-up between the SNP and Labour for a third seat. As things stand, that big swing is a possibility.
Anon 2: thanks for putting me right.
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