Well, like most of you I’ve had better election nights!
But I’m old enough to have had many worse election nights too. But the most important thing is to learn from each result, good or bad. I am pretty sure that there has never been a proper debrief after 2014 which is a problem we cannot fix. I know of none being done after 2019 either which perhaps was a contributing factor to July 4. Like Johnson in England, it’s undeniable that we benefited from a huge rejection of Jeremy Corbyn and this perhaps has allowed people to believe that the result was due to our brilliance rather then benefiting from the mistakes of others. It certainly lulled many into believing that Labour was dead and buried, well we know better now.
Similarly, I know of no work done post 2015 or more importantly 2017.
So, I was glad to get the email last week from John seeking views from Party members on what was done well and what was done not so well. It’s vital to learn from the mistakes of the past, or else you’re going to repeat them, and have serious and realistic reflection on the campaign as a whole. And that means the entire last five years.
We had, during Covid and before, established a reputation for solid unflashy competence and this was why people were willing to entrust their votes to us. But it’s also simply factual to say that we have seriously tarnished that reputation. I’m not going to rehash the contributing factors but it is important that we all reflect on what we did and why. It matters not how important any individual thought their grievance, frustration or ambition was. The simple question is, did it help to persuade people to trust us with their futures?
Too often the answer to that question is going to be No. If people don’t trust us to keep their day to day lives stable they are never going to trust us enough to vote for Independence. Every squabble, resignation and episode of back-stabbing raised more and more doubts about our competence.
The good new is that we have time to reflect on all that’s gone and hopefully resolve never to allow ourselves to be distracted again from the only thing that matters; winning independence. So I urge you all to take up John’s invitation and be thoughtful, frank and constructive in your feedback.
One thing that is blindingly obvious now is that the UK’s first past the post electoral system is no longer fit for purpose. It was always the claim that at least it produced strong and stable governments. Well, the last five years have proven that this is not true. It’s a system which does not produce a Parliamentary balance which reflects the views of the electorate unlike the Holyrood system which comes pretty close in the ratio of seats to votes. Surely the purpose of a democracy, Government of the people for the people by the people.
Finally we’ve recently lost two more stalwarts of our movement in Ken Shirra from Falkirk and the one and only Hamish McQueen. Both gave a lifetime of commitment to our cause, neither ever sought anything for themselves but wanted everything for the country they loved. We are all lesser for their passing. But they gave us a template to go forward with, Put Scotland First.