David Maddox: The onward march of the patsies
Just seen the press release about Pamela Nash being selected as John Reid's replacement as the Labour candidate for Airdrie and Shotts.
Her main qualification appears to be that she was Dr Reid's parliamentary researcher, although to be fair the 25-year-old does actually come from the constituency.
She is the latest in a long line of candidates whose political and indeed life experience is based on working in either the Westminster or Holyrood bubble. They are what is sometimes termed as the patsies (politically ambitious twenty somethings) who go to work for a party as soon as they graduate in an effort to forge a political career.
There seems to be less room for people who have had experience in a profession or lived much of an adult life for that matter.
Now that does not mean Ms Nash will make a bad MP or candidate, I'm sure she will work very hard, and it is not as if having an experience of a trade union or business makes somebody a good MP.
But in the end bringing experience to parliament, having a hinterland, does help inform debate and scrutiny and improve legislation.
It is interesting that as we are near to an election Labour's NEC has a far greater say over shortlists. Dr Reid's replacement could have been done in 2007 when he announced he would retire although the selection then ended in a bitter dispute between party bosses and the local party. Maybe Ms Nash with her strong local links makes an excellent compromise between these two points of view.
But one concern that is being raised privately by Labour members is that constituencies are being pushed into taking on patsies who hand picked by the Labour leadership because they will toe the party line and essentially their campaigning skill sets suit them for modern machine politics.
But in case this seen as an attack on Labour, the march of the patsies is a feature of every major political party in the UK.
One of the most prominent former patsies is the Conservative Party leader David Cameron, whose first job upon leaving university was to be a Tory Party researcher in Central Office.
Her main qualification appears to be that she was Dr Reid's parliamentary researcher, although to be fair the 25-year-old does actually come from the constituency.
She is the latest in a long line of candidates whose political and indeed life experience is based on working in either the Westminster or Holyrood bubble. They are what is sometimes termed as the patsies (politically ambitious twenty somethings) who go to work for a party as soon as they graduate in an effort to forge a political career.
There seems to be less room for people who have had experience in a profession or lived much of an adult life for that matter.
Now that does not mean Ms Nash will make a bad MP or candidate, I'm sure she will work very hard, and it is not as if having an experience of a trade union or business makes somebody a good MP.
But in the end bringing experience to parliament, having a hinterland, does help inform debate and scrutiny and improve legislation.
It is interesting that as we are near to an election Labour's NEC has a far greater say over shortlists. Dr Reid's replacement could have been done in 2007 when he announced he would retire although the selection then ended in a bitter dispute between party bosses and the local party. Maybe Ms Nash with her strong local links makes an excellent compromise between these two points of view.
But one concern that is being raised privately by Labour members is that constituencies are being pushed into taking on patsies who hand picked by the Labour leadership because they will toe the party line and essentially their campaigning skill sets suit them for modern machine politics.
But in case this seen as an attack on Labour, the march of the patsies is a feature of every major political party in the UK.
One of the most prominent former patsies is the Conservative Party leader David Cameron, whose first job upon leaving university was to be a Tory Party researcher in Central Office.
Labels: Airdrie and Shotts, David Cameron, David Maddox, John Reid, Pamela Nash, patsies
posted by Administrator at
19:21
2 Comments:
Nice sting in the tail there, David!
No doubt Scotsman journalists studiously avoid speaking to, or reproducing press releases from 'patsies', such is the scourge that these individuals inflict on our political system.
How different it is to do a journalism degree or postgrad at uni and go straight into being a newspaper hack - paid for by the public service adverts which are propping up the newspaper industry - carefully researching and writing up stories not at all based on press releases or political spin from tax-payer funded parliamentary researchers.
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