Islay McLeod
meets a man who captured a WMD
Also on this page:
Rear Window
Alice’s story
The Brothers I
This is David. He is still the favourite to be the next leader of the Labour Party. But he has a deadly rival from within the family. We will show you him tomorrow.
For biographical reference:
whoswhoinscotland.com
For lively discussion of current politics:
scotlandquovadis.net
For intelligent comment on Scottish literature:
scottishreviewof books.org
North Berwick, by
Islay McLeod
Walter Humes
Annabel Goldie
I have been thinking about the future of the Scottish Conservative Party. No, don’t laugh. As the late Frankie Howerd used to say, ‘It’s a shame to mock the afflicted’. My purpose is not to make fun of a party that in recent years has become marginal to mainstream political life in Scotland, but to suggest that it would be healthy for democracy if there was a stronger representation of centre-right thinking north of the border. As the results of the May general election clearly showed, Scottish politics are fairly static and an injection of some fresh ideas might enliven debate.
Unfortunately, the Tories themselves, while recognising the need to learn from past mistakes, have shown little capacity to engage in the kind of hard questioning that is really required. There is currently a review of party strategy being undertaken by the former Scottish Office minister Lord Sanderson, aged 77, supported by a committee consisting largely of old Thatcherites. When the review team was announced, one senior insider was quoted as saying: ‘It’s like they have gone into the graveyard and dug up their dead’.
Annabel Goldie, the Tory leader in Scotland, has been visiting various parts of the country in an attempt to reconnect with voters. One visit took her to darkest Lanarkshire, to the site of Ravenscraig, once the biggest steel plant in Europe, closed during the Thatcher years. She was received courteously by locals but she has no illusion that such initiatives will transform public attitudes towards the Tories in Scotland. Another party source recently conceded that it might take as long as 25 years to stage a revival.
The old paternalistic ideal of ‘public service’ had, in his view, been replaced by greed, selfish individualism and a dangerous form of libertarianism.
I have a friend who would once have described himself as an old-fashioned, ‘one nation’ Conservative. His experience perhaps serves as a case study of where the Scottish Tories went wrong and a clue to what needs to be done. His own background was ‘aspiring’ working class and his parents encouraged him to work hard at school. He did well, gaining entry to university and entering a profession that signalled upward social mobility.
After joining the Conservatives, he became an active party member, attending conferences and serving on working groups: he could probably have secured selection as a parliamentary candidate if he had wanted to. The election of a Tory government in 1979 gave him hope of the kind of social and economic reforms that he thought were necessary after the instability of the 1970s and, at first, his optimism seemed justified. He met Mrs Thatcher in Downing Street and produced discussion papers designed to inform policy.
But he had aligned himself with the ‘progressive’ wing of the party represented by Kenneth Clarke rather than the ‘radical’ wing represented by Sir Keith Joseph and he gradually found that his contributions were less welcome. After Michael Forsyth became secretary of state for Scotland, my friend was not reappointed to the board of a non-departmental public body on which he had served, he suspected because he had taken a robust independent line on an important strategic decision.
He had also become seriously disenchanted with some of the ideas he encountered at Scottish party events. I remember him returning from an Edinburgh meeting and telling me about his distaste for the arrogant, moneyed young Tories who expressed views on poverty, race and social welfare that he found utterly repugnant. The old paternalistic ideal of ‘public service’ had, in his view, been replaced by greed, selfish individualism and a dangerous form of libertarianism.
He gradually withdrew from active involvement, let his membership lapse and came to share the widespread view in Scotland that the Tories were the ‘nasty’ party. I do not know how he voted after 1997 but I did hear him make approving remarks about the early years of the Blair/Brown government. When parties drive their ‘natural’ supporters into the arms of the opposition they should realise that there is something seriously wrong.
But perhaps more important than any of these measures is the need to establish a real presence in parts of Scotland where the Tories once had a foothold but have now largely given up.
So what might the Scottish Conservatives do to bring people like my friend back on board? First, they need to establish their distinctive Scottish identity, rather than be perceived as an offshoot of an alien party that has its roots in the south of England. In this, they can learn from the Welsh Tories who have managed to ‘detoxify’ the brand and make something of a comeback. Second, they can recognise political reality by embracing devolution instead of seeing it a regrettable aberration from UK politics. Third, when the time comes to choose a new leader – it is reported that Annabel Goldie may step down after the 2011 elections to Holyrood – they need to choose someone who is not perceived to be out of touch with ordinary people. (That is not a criticism of Ms Goldie who has done a reasonable job in difficult circumstances, not helped by an unimpressive supporting cast.) The need for credibility with ordinary Scots probably means that the choice should not be a lawyer, nor someone from the Edinburgh financial services sector, and certainly not a member of the landed gentry.
But perhaps more important than any of these measures is the need to establish a real presence in parts of Scotland where the Tories once had a foothold but have now largely given up. That will be difficult but not impossible.
It should not be forgotten that the distinguished historian, Professor Esmond Wright, won the Glasgow seat of Pollok for the Tories in 1967. In a less dramatic way, Randle Wilson, who died recently, kept the Conservative flame alive in the east end of Glasgow. Over 40 years he fought more than 30 elections and by-elections in areas such as Easterhouse, Barlanark and Springburn, and on one occasion actually managed to win (as a Progressive) in Anderston.
Mr Wilson worked as a senior hostel assistant for Glasgow City Council, and so presumably saw the effects of poverty and deprivation at close quarters. In his obituary it was stated that ‘he was never disheartened and always remained an enthusiastic advocate of the power of local politics’. If the Tories are to stage a comeback, they need to start at the grassroots, demonstrating that their policies can make a real contribution to the regeneration of disadvantaged communities.
Prior to his retirement Walter Humes held professorships at the universities of Aberdeen, Strathclyde and West of Scotland. He is now a visiting professor of education at the University of Stirling.
