Wendy Alexander
From a partisan biased perspective the recent resignation of Wendy Alexander as leader of the Scottish Labour Party was an overdue end to a sorry saga. However regardless of the perceived political wisdom it has to be pointed out that from a Scottish Labour Party perspective this represents a key opportunity for political progress.
Alexander’s lasting legacy is the parties’ commitment to an independence referendum and if the party had any sense they would stick to it. Consistent polls have shown a growing support for independence yet while they have always shown a consistent support for greater devolved powers they have also shown a consistent, but shrinking, support for the union. The danger for the unionists is that eventually the apathy towards Westminster could plausibly develop into a support for independence.
With hindsight the best thing the unionists could have done would have been to unite around referendum during the first term of the parliament in order to call the SNP’s bluff. Without a doubt they would have won at the time and undermined the SNP for a generation. As things stand it would take a monumental blunder for the Tories to lose the next election and as such it would appear this will coincide with the SNP’s referendum timetable.
If I was a supporter of the Labour party I would urge them to unite behind any old rubbish, keep their heads down and weather the storm of bad headlines and blunders being made south of the border. The SNP have yet to convert a lot of people to their cause and have thus far failed to live up to the expectations of millions, they are still one million miles away from winning their mandate, their success is almost entirely built on the weakness of a very poor Labour Party.
I think it’s fair to say that with 2 leaders having resigned for financial irregularities and the widespread blunders of last years national deputy leadership race then yet another internal contest is going to be arousing the suspicion of many investigative journalists and to be honest I would find it hilarious if some peeping tom manages to find out that old habits die hard.
Regardless of any financial foul play I think we can all conclude that the main problem the party have is that there is simply no one on their benches who can compare to Alex Salmond in terms of his charisma, confidence and ease with the electorate, the key reason probably being that any competent candidates are already in Westminster. However Alexander wasn’t merely a bad leader, she was an utterly inept leader and if she was the intellectual powerhouse of the party then those of us who want to see them sink without a trace may see our wish coming true. If the party stick to their referendum pledge then in all likelihood they’ll win it with a small majority. The main danger for the parties’ long-term future comes from dropping their commitment. It is inevitable that if support for a referendum keeps chugging along there will eventually be a referendum, the Labour party need to strike fast because nothing will make Scottish people want to break up Britain more than a term or two of Tory rule down south when we can guarantee their Scottish vote will barely break in to double figures.
Personally I cant see the Tories providing too vocal an opposition, the union ensures an extra 40 or so Labour MP’s south of the border and surely the break-up of Britain would probably have the result of allowing the Tories to cling on to Westminster indefinitely. The future of the Labour party nationally is reliant upon them getting the timing of the independence issue right because if they get it wrong they will simply drift in to insignificance.
From a partisan biased perspective the recent resignation of Wendy Alexander as leader of the Scottish Labour Party was an overdue end to a sorry saga. However regardless of the perceived political wisdom it has to be pointed out that from a Scottish Labour Party perspective this represents a key opportunity for political progress.
Alexander’s lasting legacy is the parties’ commitment to an independence referendum and if the party had any sense they would stick to it. Consistent polls have shown a growing support for independence yet while they have always shown a consistent support for greater devolved powers they have also shown a consistent, but shrinking, support for the union. The danger for the unionists is that eventually the apathy towards Westminster could plausibly develop into a support for independence.
With hindsight the best thing the unionists could have done would have been to unite around referendum during the first term of the parliament in order to call the SNP’s bluff. Without a doubt they would have won at the time and undermined the SNP for a generation. As things stand it would take a monumental blunder for the Tories to lose the next election and as such it would appear this will coincide with the SNP’s referendum timetable.
If I was a supporter of the Labour party I would urge them to unite behind any old rubbish, keep their heads down and weather the storm of bad headlines and blunders being made south of the border. The SNP have yet to convert a lot of people to their cause and have thus far failed to live up to the expectations of millions, they are still one million miles away from winning their mandate, their success is almost entirely built on the weakness of a very poor Labour Party.
I think it’s fair to say that with 2 leaders having resigned for financial irregularities and the widespread blunders of last years national deputy leadership race then yet another internal contest is going to be arousing the suspicion of many investigative journalists and to be honest I would find it hilarious if some peeping tom manages to find out that old habits die hard.
Regardless of any financial foul play I think we can all conclude that the main problem the party have is that there is simply no one on their benches who can compare to Alex Salmond in terms of his charisma, confidence and ease with the electorate, the key reason probably being that any competent candidates are already in Westminster. However Alexander wasn’t merely a bad leader, she was an utterly inept leader and if she was the intellectual powerhouse of the party then those of us who want to see them sink without a trace may see our wish coming true. If the party stick to their referendum pledge then in all likelihood they’ll win it with a small majority. The main danger for the parties’ long-term future comes from dropping their commitment. It is inevitable that if support for a referendum keeps chugging along there will eventually be a referendum, the Labour party need to strike fast because nothing will make Scottish people want to break up Britain more than a term or two of Tory rule down south when we can guarantee their Scottish vote will barely break in to double figures.
Personally I cant see the Tories providing too vocal an opposition, the union ensures an extra 40 or so Labour MP’s south of the border and surely the break-up of Britain would probably have the result of allowing the Tories to cling on to Westminster indefinitely. The future of the Labour party nationally is reliant upon them getting the timing of the independence issue right because if they get it wrong they will simply drift in to insignificance.
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