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Scottish Parliament election

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PMs and POs

  • Brian Taylor
  • 10 May 07, 03:26 PM

What a curious concatenation of circumstances. Tony Blair IS Prime Minister - but soon won't be.

In Scotland, Jack McConnell IS First Minister but soon won't be.

Are the two events connected? More than one Labour MSP - (and, still more strongly, ex MSP) - must wish that TB had stood down earlier.

They believe, in short, that Iraq had turned him from a vote-winning machine into a liability.

Others contest that his contributions to the campaign - which were many - helped turn round a potential calamity into a very close run thing.

Still and all, Tony Blair leaves office as - a) the most successful Labour leader in history; and b) the leader who presided over Labour's first voting share and seats defeat in Scotland for half a century.

He's also, of course, the Prime Minister whose government introduced Scottish self-government.

No great personal enthusiast for devolution, he saw the political necessity of acting - and drove the pre-debated scheme through to enactment, as one or two Cabinet colleagues squawked and muttered.

He backed Donald Dewar when it mattered.

PS: Looks as if the issue of the Presiding Officer at Holyrood could be close to a solution.

The hot gossip - again - is that Tory MSP Alex Fergusson could be up for the job.

It had been thought that the demands of his south-west constituency might prove insuperable.

But the latest thinking is that he might be able to combine both tasks successfully. Further, some argue that it would be a concrete demonstration of the Tories' readiness to make devolution work.

If I'm right, you read it here first. If I'm wrong, I blame a hacker who polluted my blog.

Comments   Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 04:09 PM on 10 May 2007,
  • derek barker wrote:

Yes! i remember those early day's Brian,when Blair was telling everyone else that a Scottish parliament would be no more than a parish council,any-way Blair and Dewar both liked the idea and the result was as it is today,an uncertain west lothian question.By the way;are the tories thinking straight on their future? oh,does Jack have a choice? as to when he goes to.

  • 2.
  • At 06:18 PM on 10 May 2007,
  • David M wrote:

Is it true McConnell tried to stitch up the SNP with a backstairs deal with the Tories to keep him on as First Minister? This was reported in a national newspaper today. You'd think such matters might be of more than passing interest to the electorate, but not a word about it here!

  • 3.
  • At 06:28 PM on 10 May 2007,
  • Peter, Fife wrote:

Of course they are linked, agent (Jack McConnell) and agent recruiter in chief (Tony Blair); Jack was oh so keen to please one of his masters that he would carry out trials of a, smoking ban in public places, centralisation of NHS services and fortnightly refuse collections, etc, etc, in order that the wrinkles could be identified and ironed out before these had to be introduced in England. In relation to Tony Blair’s exit timing, Jack was keen to tell us he had invited Tony Blair to Scotland during the Campaign and that his contribution was positive; surely that was the truth.

Jack’s main cause of his demise was his own programme to enhance the west coast of Scotland in general and the east end of Glasgow in particular, Bathgate / Airdrie rail line, moving jobs from Edinburgh to the west coast, the Commonwealth Games bid as a cover for regeneration of the east end of Glasgow all to the detriment of the rest of Scotland; coupled with ‘his’ policy of turning many of our hospitals into glorified health centres in the centralisation programme all to please His Master’s Voice.

If this post does not make sense it all goes to prove that that damned hacker has truly struck again.

  • 4.
  • At 07:24 PM on 10 May 2007,
  • achnafearn wrote:

Blair may be the longest serving Labour prime minister but hardly comes near to the achievements, enduring achievements, of Clement Attlee. Dour and unpretentious beats shallow, glib and spin every day

  • 5.
  • At 09:55 PM on 10 May 2007,
  • sacrebleu wrote:

... meanwhile, what's happening with political control in all the local Councils? Wasn't there a seismic shift in balance of power there? Who's cutting the deals?

With your contacts, Brian, I'm not betting against your tip of Alex Fergusson for the PO job!

Derek, sorry to disappoint you but the (so called) Parliament is little more than a Parish Council. A "hugely expensive" and "glorified" council would be a better description.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great shame. I would rather see a proper Parliament or no Parliament at all. The current halfway house is far from ideal.

  • 7.
  • At 09:43 AM on 11 May 2007,
  • Colin Wilson wrote:

"In Scotland, Jack McConnell is First Minister but soon won't be."

This is wrong. McConnell ceased being First Minister at the end of the last parliamentary session. The post is currently vacant.

  • 8.
  • At 12:03 PM on 11 May 2007,
  • Felicity Martin wrote:

Sacrebleu mentions local councils. In Perth and Kinross the SNP increased their number of seats, but are still three short of an overall majority and have so been talking to the Lib Dems about forming another coalition.
I was very struck by comment in today's (11 May) Perthshire Advertiser:

Councillor Peter Barrett, who flew the Lib Dem banner in Perth for the Scottish Parliament, contrasted the Lib Dem's positive willingness to find and contribute to a workable local government coalition for Perth and Kinross with "the outright rejection by the Tories to play any constructive role."
He slammed a Tory "betrayal of local people's trust."
"They now have no intention of delivering any of them at all. I've heard that a week is a long time in politics but this is not just ridiculous it is absolutely shameful."

What is even more shameful is that his boss, Nicol Stephen, appears to be betraying the Scottish peoples' trust.

  • 9.
  • At 05:20 PM on 14 May 2007,
  • Matthew wrote:

Sorry Colin (post #7) - check your facts, Jack is still FM until replaced by the Queen.

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