John Lind
North-East Scotland
As the Labour leadership contest draws to a close, I feel it is appropriate to discuss what the outcome will mean for the Scottish National Party.
John Lind
North-East Scotland
As the Labour leadership contest draws to a close, I feel it is appropriate to discuss what the outcome will mean for the Scottish National Party.
Dianne Abbott seems to have been written off already by social networkers; “She’s not experienced.”, “She does not possess leadership qualities.”, & “She is too old Labour” are but a few of the comments I have read about the brave underdog that is Dianne.
As the Labour leadership contest draws to a close, I feel it is appropriate to discuss what the outcome will mean for the Scottish National Party.
Dianne Abbott seems to have been written off already by social networkers; “She’s not experienced.”, “She does not possess leadership qualities.”, & “She is too old Labour” are but a few of the comments I have read about the brave underdog that is Dianne.
The fact is, having appeared on our TV screens for some time along with Michael Portillo, Dianne Abbot has plenty of experience dealing with the media (a quality that Gordon Brown never possessed). Ms Abbott has also sat in the House of Commons since 1987 and thus has been an MP longer than any other of the candidates. I therefore have no doubt that, if the impossible happens, Dianne Abbot would give the SNP a good fight.
I now come to a man named Andy Burnham, I’m sure that few will have heard of that name before he declared himself a candidate. To have been an MP for only 9 years and be handed the role of health secretary surely shows his potential, however, given his low profile I think the name Burnham will soon wither away into the back-pages of history books. He does not strike me as a leader either and if he were ever to challenge Alex Salmond, the man would be destroyed by the weapon that is Salmond’s wit.
As with every contest there is always a candidate with a ‘rather interesting’ name and the Labour leadership contest is no different. You would be forgiven for mistaking Mr Balls as a comical figure but you would most definitely be wrong.
Ed Balls is only one of two candidates I believe would stand a chance of defeating the SNP in next year’s Holyrood elections. This man has a ‘no-nonsense’ attitude and the strength to go on and lead the Labour Party back to government in both Edinburgh and London. Balls has the ability to win back voters who deserted the Labour Party in the aftermath of the Iraq War; after-all he was man enough to admit that the war was wrong. I really do hope, for the sake of the Scottish National Party, that Mr Balls does not win the affections of the Labour Party as has the leadership qualities to win over the many voters that have leant their support to other parties.
Most likely you are now thinking that I have left the best until last. On the one hand you would be correct and on the other you would be wrong.
If the Labour Party were to choose either of the Milliband brothers it would bring the party back to square one; Ed and David have both come to be recognised as being right at the heart of the type of Labour Party that voters came to dislike by the time of the General Election. The polls seem to show that the contest will indeed be between the two Milliband brothers. Regardless of who the Labour Party choose when it melts down to the final two, it will be an early Christmas present to us at the Scottish National Party, therefore I am very optimistic that we will succeed at next years Scottish Parliamentary Elections.