Don Do-Don Don, Don Do-Don Don Donnnn!!!!

Well, someone had to present the case for the defence of Nigel Don, MSP for North East Scotland, and Paul Hutcheon's latest hapless victim. For those who are unsure, the Sunday Herald's political editior has hit upon a novel way of meeting his filing deadlines on a week when little major news has emerged from Holyrood: he scours MSPs' expense records until he happens on something juicy. Indeed, Hutcheon has had a hand in the defenestration of both David McLetchie and Wendy Alexander as leaders of their respective parties. So everyone has cause to be wary of the man. And make sure that all of their records are above board and seen to be above board.

Unfortunately, Nigel Don has not realised this, and this can probably be put down to a rookie mistake, though he has attempted to put his side of the story across through means of an interview with Hutcheon, which the Sunday Herald appears to carry verbatim. As such, he probably has a better shot of gettign through this than anyone else to face up to the journalist: the instinctive response is to circle the wagons and it usually fails.

Where Nigel Don has gone wrong is pretty clear: yes, he's entitled to this, yes, every procedure has been followed as it should have been and yes, there are practical reasons for the move to Aberdeen and establishment of a second home in Edinburgh. But he's forgotten the Golden Rule: politics is never about what is. It's about what appears to be. And as the man himself admits, it looks dodgy. So whatever his intentions - and I don't view them as malicious - there is an element of naivety at work. Especially as the writing appeared to be on the wall for the Edinburgh Accommodation Allowance at that stage.

But the fact is that his work wasn't in Dundee (I'll come to that later): it was in Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Now, Dundee is the least bad place to be if you want to travel to both of those cities regularly, but it's still far from ideal. Dundee-Edinburgh-Dundee is not a commute I'd like to make day in and day out for four years. Neither is Dundee-Aberdeen-Dundee. Yet the rules of the EAA plainly expected Nigel Don to make the former, while circumstances demanded the latter. This goes to show that there was an arbitrary element to the nuts and bolts of the scheme, which offered a gravy train for some MSPs, and made unrealistic expectations of others.

So what this story tells us is what we already knew: that the EAA was and is a complete pain.

But now to the other point: the main thrust of reaction to the story is indignation at the idea that Nigel Don is not travelling the length and breadth of a cobbled-together region which stretches from the Buchan Coast to the Firth of Tay, but focusing on the non-SNP areas, which are all focused in and around Aberdeen.

Now, firstly, you wouldn't expect a Highlands and Islands MSP to cover the entirety of the region from Lerwick to Campbelltown so why Nigel Don should be expected to go on a magical mystery tour taking in Dundee, Forfar, Brechin, Stonehaven, Aberdeen and Peterhead is beyond me.

Anyway, let's begin at constitutional principle. What is Nigel Don's job? Let's look at the two types of MSP. The Constituency MSP's job is to represent the Constituency as its sole voice. They are, if you're a purist, elected as an individual and just happen to be standing as a Party's candidate. Their primary duty is, therefore, to represent the entire constituency. It's the constituency > individual > party hierarchy that explains firstly why MP's refer to each other as the Member for Such-and-such, and why we have to have a By-Election to replace a Constituency Member.

But a Regional MSP's purpose is different. Why were they established? Well, the cynic's view would that they were established a) to prevent the SNP from ever gaining a majority in the Scottish Parliament, and b) as a sop to the LibDems. The purists' answer is simple: to redress the political imbalance in a region caused by distorted FPTP results. In short, Nigel Don, as a Regional MSP, was not elected as a community voice, but strictly as an SNP one, to make sure that the number of MSPs emerging from the North East broadly reflected the way votes had been cast in the region. If there is a representational element at all, it must surely be to provide an SNP alternative to SNP supporters who find themselves with a Constituency MSP of another party and would feel happier taking up issues with a more politically sympathetic ear. The only formal duty that he is charged with is to be active in at least two of the region's constituencies. Nigel Don ticks that box.

Beyond that, anything else is incidental, and Nigel Don has no individual duty. The Regional MSP hierarchy is party > individual > region. He was elected on an SNP List as an SNP candidate, but does get to keep his seat until the next election should he change his affiliation. Should he cease to be an MSP, Karen Shirron, who was next on the List, would automatically take his place. Indeed, Nigel Don did not campaign as an individual candidate for the Scottish Parliament in 2007: he was not a constituency candidate, so the only votes received for Nigel Don during the entire 2007 electoral process were those on the North East selection ballot of SNP members in the region, and perhaps any Constituency in which he might have put his name forward for selection. The only members of the general public to vote for him were the voters of Lochee Ward on Dundee City Council. They did give him a personal mandate, one he surrendered when he realised that his MSP work would take him either to Aberdeen or Edinburgh, but that his role in Dundee would be limited. Otherwise, the idea that Nigel Don, and indeed all the Regional MSPs, have to cover the entire region is undoubtedly noble but somewhat misplaced.

For instance, even if you discount the Constituency element which Nigel Don correctly cited, the idea that everyone elected should cover the whole region does raise the issue of what happens when there's more than one elected member from a party. Does it make sense for the two to duplicate the workload, and get under each other's feet, or is it wiser to divvy the region up into more manageable chunks, which each member can cover? Plainly, the latter is the more sensible option.

Now let's bring in the full gamut of elected officials. Constituency MSPs already face turf wars from Councillors of any and all political hues, MPs who may not necessarily be from the same party but still face re-election and want their picture in the local paper and Regional MSPs of rival parties. So Andrew Welsh (SNP, Angus) will notice that Tory Regional MSP Alex Johnstone was his challenger in 2007 (and Robert Smith, LibDem MP for West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine will surely be aware that Johnstone is after his sea at the next Westminster election); Stewart Stevenson (SNP, Banff & Buchan) defeated Alison McInnes, who became a LibDem Regional MSP so is still very much a presence. Brian Adam (SNP, Aberdeen North) has Labour MP Frank Doran to contend with, while Joe FitzPatrick (SNP, Dundee West) has to deal with Labour MP Jim McGovern. Alex Salmond (Gordon) and Nicol Stephen (LD, Aberdeen South) have a double whammy: the FM is in LibDem MP Malcolm Bruce's stomping grounds and has Tory MSP Nanette Milne in the background, while the former LibDem leader has to look over his shoulder at Labour MP Anne Begg and SNP Regional MSP Maureen Watt.

So on that basis, the last thing Constituency MSPs need is Regional MSPs from the same party moving in. It's also the same duplication of effort that would be expected if every Regional MSP had to cover the entire region.

So in Nigel Don's case, he is an SNP alternative in areas where one isn't available: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen South and West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine. The other Regional SNP MSP, Maureen Watt, faces the same task, but can focus on her ministerial role while Nigel has her back. Joe FitzPatrick is a backbencher so doesn't need much in the way of backup: he has time to devote to his Constituency. Shona Robison (Dundee East) may have ministerial work to contend with, but she has backup in the form of her husband, and the area's MP, Stewart Hosie. Andrew Welsh is the Convener of the Finance Committee, but that just means he has some extra work to do when Parliament is sitting - when he's already in Edinburgh. So as far as Dundee and the surrounding area is concerned, Nigel Don's work is already being done.

In the rest of the region, aside from the gap in SNP Constituency representation, Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) is the SNP's Chief Whip, meaning extra work making sure that SNP MSPs are where they're supposed to be, but again, that boils down to extra work when he's already in Edinburgh. Any backup he'd need would be minimal. Alex Salmond would need some help as there'll be lots of demands on his time as FM and the MP in the area is, as we've established, a Liberal Democrat, so an extra bit of SNP backup would be useful to him, and Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson would have an SNP MP to help lighten the load, but that MP is the already-busy First Minister, so again, Nigel Don has a role to play there. But what do Salmond and Stevenson's constituencies have in common?

Simple. They're as far away from Dundee as you can get while still being a) in the North East region, and b) on dry land. There's no two ways about it: Nigel Don's job is not in Dundee, whee he'd be duplicating someone else's workload. It's in Edinburgh, and it's in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

So although it would be noble for Nigel Don to make a heroic effort and pop up everywhere across the region talking to as many of the hundreds of thousands of people that live there as possible, that would reduce his efficacy as an MSP. He is needed more in Aberdeenshire than in Dundee. And while the timing and appearance of his EAA claim that is unfortunate, the decision to up sticks to the Granite City, and set up a proper second home in Edinburgh was, on balance, right one. Staying in Dundee would have made his job - and his life - more difficult.

I can't honestly say that I wouldn't do any different in Nigel Don's shoes. It's perception that's made him vulnerable. Well, that and the misfortune that Paul Hutcheon has reached the D's.

Hutcheon nobbled Wendy Alexander in December 2007. He's onto Nigel Don now. So the real moral of the story is that MSPs whose surname begins with G have twelve months to get their house in order.