Scotland's Politics - update 2003

May 1st 2003 - Election of Scotland's second modern Parliament

After the sad death of Donald Dewar, the first minister was Jack McConnell.

For many the most memorable moments of the first parliamentary term were not particularly complimentary to any party or MSP. First there was a strange bickering debate about clause 52 or some such number which nobody really understood, but seemed to threaten the morality of our children, and caused one of our multi-millionaires to spend some of his millions in an attempt to persuade us, the electorate, to walk on parliament and change the law. Or something like that. Other memories are of being forced to spend somewhere rapidly approaching a billion pounds of money we don't have, on a palace for these politicians to do some more bickering, usually about each other and each other's parties (to which we are not invited, and would prefer not to bother gate-crashing).

After all the excitement and expectations, it seems we, the people, have been completely disgusted with politicians and politicking, so that two things have been seen in the elections of 2003.

Firstly the low turnout, where less than 50% of the electorate bothered to turnout to vote at all.

Secondly is the huge success of the "rainbow" parties, and that both Labour and the SNP each lost about 8% of their vote and a good number of seats. The winners are the independents, where Dr Jean was elected to try and boost our health service, in particular Stobhill Hospital which has been betrayed by our own goverment. But in particular, the Scottish Socialist Party now have 8 seats, the Green party 5, Margot McDonald won as an independent having been messed about by her party the SNP, and Dennis Canavan, previosuly messed about by his own party Labour, was re-elected as an independent, once again.

The face of Scottish Politics appears to have changed forever, and perhaps even the issue of Independence, beloved of the SNP, and the author of this piece in fact, is now rapidly becoming totally irrelevant, as we, the people, start to vote for issues, credible policies, and in particular for people that we - like. And perhaps that means POSITIVE people, not bickering bad mouths.

But by then many of the teenagers who it seems would vote SNP, will have the vote, if they bother using it.

I actually look forward to the next election, and seeing how on earth the SSP, Green party, party for pensioner power, and the save our fishing industry party, will manage to govern Scotland in the almost complete absence of MSPs of the Labour Party and SNP who, in 2007, look to disappear almost completely at the rate they're going ... unless they reform and put us, the Electorate, before themselves, their own opinions, and their trivial disputes and petty squabbles with each other.

I hope.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk