David Maddox: Note to budding politicians - beware your past indiscretions
David Kerr (pictured right), the SNP candidate for Glasgow North-east, has not had the easiest transition from journalist (of the BBC variety) to politician.Fourth choice candidate after originally being rejected, attacked for his membership of Opus Dei, and then there were his comments about Glasgow Caledonian University (no reputation to tarnish, he says) and sectarianism (not a problem in Scotland, apparently).
It is all a classic case of past words and actions coming back to haunt somebody when they put their head above the political parapet. In other words if you want to be a political candidate try to avoid doing or saying anything of interest that can dragged up.
The Steamie has been given a copy of the talk he gave to the Catholic Society at his alma mater St Andrews University two years ago. (I've just realised that as we are the same age we were probably there at the same time in the mid-1990s, along with James MacKenzie, the Green's spin doctor and author of the Two Doctors blog.)
The question over his comments on Glasgow Callie was whether it represents an elitist view of higher education or is just a light-hearted stand-up routine for a bunch of students. Likewise, whether his impressions in the same clip of the Protestant reformer John Knox is humour or something nastier.
Click on the link below and make up your own mind:
Labels: David Kerr, David Maddox, elitism, Glasgow Caledonian University, religion, St Andrews University
posted by Administrator at
12:06
11 Comments:
I am struggling to comprehend The Scotsman's continued insistence that David Kerr was the "fourth choice candidate".
Given there were only two selection contests, how is that circle squared exactly?
''It is all a classic case of past words and actions coming back to haunt somebody when they put their heads above the political parapet. In other words if you want to be a political candidate try to avoid doing or saying anything of interest that can be dragged up''
Well, yes, that's it in a nutshell. But it is journalists like you David, or in this case Tom Gordon, or maybe it is your proprietors I don't know, that insist on dragging up these ''skeletons'' from the closet, such as James Dornan's Trust Deed which was paid off, and his technical breach of Charity regulations in connection with a Charitable Board he didn't sit on any more, which were ''dragged up'' and caused him to stand down.
You, or perhaps your editors/proprietors, are complicit in this whole thing.
If we are not careful then no one with any life experience will be eligible for political Office, it will be professionalised completely, with party drones who have not done or said anything interesting in their entire lives.
Jeff, Mr Maddox is clearly using a bit of arithmetical sleight-of-hand for Nat-bashing purposes and hoping no-one will notice. Or if they do notice, he's hoping that they point it out 'anonymously', so that under the novel code of journalistic honour he introduced to a startled world a few weeks ago he can pretend they don't exist.
Pity for Mr Maddox, then, that both you and I use our real names, Jeff.
To conjure up this 'fourth-choice' notion, Mr Maddox is I believe relying on the fact that Anne McLaughlin used to be the PPC for Glasgow Northeast (even though she ceased to be the candidate well before there was a vacancy in the seat). But then again, by that very standard, Michael Martin used to be the Labour PPC for the constituency. So in the Bible according to Maddox, does that make William Bain the 'second-choice' Labour candidate? Er, no, wait a minute, he can't be, can he? Because Martin replaced Richard Buchanan, who used to be the candidate in the 60s and 70s. And James Forman before that. Let's face it, the Labour candidate in this by-election is about the seventeenth choice and the vast majority of those preferred to him are no longer even ALIVE. What does that say about the hapless Mr Bain?
Or to ask a more sensible question, are you now ready to accept there's been a rather big malfunction in your logical reasoning, Mr Maddox?
Jeff - The arithmatic is clear. Anne McLaughlin was the candidate and stepped aside to become an MSP. Grant Thoms was then lined up and stepped aside. James Dornan was then selected ahead of David Kerr and then stepped aside. Finally David Kerr was selected. My maths may not be that good but I count four as does almost every other journalist.
In terms of so-called sleight of hand, there is no more of this than the methods used last year by me and other journalists to describe Margaret Curran as Labour's fifth choice for Glasgow East. I didn't see Nationalists complaining about that and indeed members of the party still quote that statistic.
It's a case of living and dying by the sword I'm afraid in the rough world of politics.
I grant you Grant Thoms but suggesting Anne McLaughlin was ever the first choice candidate for this by-election given that Anne has been an MSP for six months is stretching it, to put it mildly.
Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things but the same methods have not been applied.
George Ryan (1st choice) was actually selected as Labour by-election candidate before Frank McAveety (2nd choice), Stephen Purcell (3rd choice) and Lesley Quinn (4th choice) turned down the offers of standing in quick succession having actually been asked to stand.
Anne was never asked to stand and never did she express an interest. (Her lack of interest was expressed in charming no uncertain terms if press reports are to be believed!)
And anyway, the tacit admission that getting it wrong for Margaret Curran makes it perfectly excusable for getting it wrong now in Glasgow North East surely doesn't stack up.
But hey, I fully accept I'm splitting hairs here, the by-election won't be decided on whether one was the xth or yth choice candidate, there'll be plenty more to come in this contest as we both know.
I just thought I'd register my arithmetical concern.
George Ryan was never actually selected. He didn't appear at the selection meeting due to reasons which were never publicised. Macaveety I don't know about. Stephen Purcell had a massive fight with Gordon Brown over the 'phone which has now assumed legendary status in Labour circles, and Lesley Quinn turned it down because she had been lined up for a job with City Building (which they were raging about).
Funny how none of that ever got into the press eh.
David was the second choice byelection candidate, no question. Anne and Grant had been approved by the local party and 'pencilled-in' for a future General Election. By-elections have a different dynamic in terms of publicity and importance and every party sets a different process in motion (very often presenting a different candidate). At the first by-election selection meeting, the local party's first choice was Jim (17 votes) with David close behind (12 votes). At the second meeting David was re-affirmed as an acceptable candidate with 19 votes (actually more than Jim) when he might legitimately have been rejected. Second by all processes of counting.
Does the link work for anyone else? (I get an error.)
"David Kerr (pictured right), the SNP candidate for Glasgow North-east, has not had the easiest transition from journalist (of the BBC variety) to politician."
Says the lead cheerleader.
I'm surprised you were at St Andrews at the same time as Kerr, he certainly looks mid 30's, have you had a hard life?
The problem with the candidate mathematics scenario, is further muddled by Ross Lydal the Scotsman political editor, claiming that James Dorman was the 2nd candidate just over a week ago..
One would hope David that you've corrected Mr Lydal and his erroneous ways...
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scottishnationalparty/Nationalists-39in-meltdown39--as.5452109.jp
Administrator - you need to invest in a researcher.
Anne McvLaughlin did not step aside as the candidate in North East Glasgow to become an MSP. At the time she became an MSP she was not the SNP candidate for Glasgow North East - Grant Thoms was. Anne McLaughlin was a candidate for the European Parliament.
Grant Thoms was not lined up as the candidate because of the by-election - he had aleady been selected as the general election candidate. However under SNP rules when a by-election is called if there is a candidate already in place he or she automatically steps down and a fresh selection takes place.
John Mason, for example, was not the candidate in place for Glasgow East last year - Lachie McNeil was. Lachie stepped down and did not put his name forward as a by-election candidate. That did not however make John Mason the second choice candidate.
It is this kind of poorly researched journalism that undermines the Scotsman's reputation.
Post a Comment
<< Home