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Near Commonwealth House (HQ of the Games) – just in case anyone goes hungry
Photograph by
Islay McLeod
Should we go wild
at the ballot box
a fortnight today?
Walter Humes
The relationship between councillors and officials has not always
been healthy, encouraging a degree of scepticism about how certain
senior appointments have been arrived at.
So are there any other ways in which electors can signal their disenchantment with the political establishment? In most (but not all) wards there are candidates standing for minority or fringe parties – the Greens, UKIP, the Scottish Christian Party, the Scottish Socialist Party, the All Scotland Pensioners Party, the Anti-Cuts Coalition. There are also a fair number of independents, by no means all of whom are closet Conservatives who dare not speak their name. It would be possible for voters to place minority or fringe candidates as their first and (perhaps) second choices and carefully refrain from indicating any preference at all for the main parties. Even if only a few of the minority/fringe candidates were elected this time round, it would demonstrate the potential of voter revolt and perhaps pave the way for a more far-reaching revolution next time.
The prospect of injecting some new blood into local councils, at the same time conveying disapproval of the old guard, would be salutary and could stimulate more widespread civic activism, in which ordinary folk begin to realise that they need not remain passive in the face of complacency, incompetence and tired PR rhetoric. The act of rebellion would not represent an unqualified endorsement of the policies of the minority/fringe parties, merely a signal that the mainstream parties had forfeited public trust.
There would, it should be acknowledged, be a downside to this. Inexperienced councillors might, at least in the short term, find that they had to rely rather heavily on permanent council officials. The relationship between councillors and officials has not always been healthy, encouraging a degree of scepticism about how certain senior appointments have been arrived at. Some officials would perhaps continue to feel allegiance to the practices of the old regime and would resist attempts at reform. To effect a real change in local government culture – something that is desperately needed – would require sustained effort over a period of time. But a start has to be made somewhere and a few ‘wild card’ councillors might be the launch pad that is needed.
Is this really likely to happen? Maybe not, but the idea is worth floating if it encourages folk to think of other possible ways of beginning to alter the political landscape of Scotland. The dire quality of many local councillors in the past, some of whom have gone on to occupy seats at Holyrood, is one of the reasons why debates in the Scottish Parliament have often lacked the necessary intelligence and vision to engage public interest and commitment. Should independence come to pass, we will need a much higher calibre of local and national politicians than we have at present, if the country is to flourish.
Walter Humes held professorships at the universities of Aberdeen, Strathclyde and West of Scotland and is now a visiting professor of education at the University of Stirling
