Shocking! Disgraceful! Publicity Seeker! So opined some of Scotland’s newspapers concerning the sartorial elegance of one of Scotland’s newest MSPs (MSP= Member of the Scottish Parliament). The Scotsman as stuffy as ever, did not like the dress sense of Ms Rosie Kane. Neither did the Daily Record, miffed that its dogmatic support of Labour had not delivered the results it wanted (it is always amusing when a tabloid such as the Record tries to act as though it were a serious newspaper). Ms Kane’s crime was to be sworn into the new parliament dressed in an ‘off the shoulder top’ and faded blue jeans. Of course it was a gesture, in the same way that the slogan on her raised hand (along the lines of my pledge is to the Scottish people) was a gesture. And of course it was publicity seeking – something which the newspapers who complained about it were quite happy to give – but to be honest, I actually thought that it added a bit of colour and spice to an otherwise dreary proceeding. In fact one thing that the new Scottish Parliament is not going to lack is colour.
Before the election we had a four party system in Scotland. Labour have run Scotland like a municipal authority for decades. They are the party of government and the party of power in Scotland. So much so that for years there has been little hope of ever seeing anything else in Scotland. The Scottish National Party have a support which varies between 20-35%. Always enough to give it hope but never enough to break through. The Conservatives used to have 50% of the vote in Scotland. They have come perilously close to extinction and are nowhere near the force they used to be. The Liberal Democrats are Labours partners and have a mixed bag of policies and a mixed record. It was widely expected that this four party system would still exist after the election and that Labour and the Liberals would form the new Scottish Executive (what we call our government – because the Labour party did not like the idea of a Scottish Government). Many people were deeply cynical about the whole thing – not least because they considered that in fact there was very little to choose between the parties in terms of policies and also because of the perception that the Scottish Parliament has very limited powers and that most major issues are decided in the corridors of power in Westminster, Brussels or the board rooms of major companies. Despite that just under 50% of the Scottish electorate voted and delivered a quite surprising result.
The Labour party did not do well. Yes it remains by far the largest party – with 50 out of 129 seats – and it managed to maintain most of its constituency seats. But there were signs of disillusionment with the party – they lost three urban constituency seats and only one in six of the Scottish electorate actually voted for them. It was hardly a ringing endorsement of their leadership. There have been several reasons given for this – the tiredness that people have with spin and the Iraq war effect – many people were upset with the party for supporting that.
The same can be said of their coalition partners – the Liberal Democrats – who retained their 17 seats but did little else to advance their cause.
The SNP were the big losers. Their vote did not hold up – especially on the key second vote and as a result their number of seats went down from 35 to 27. At a time when Labour was struggling, and when a breakthrough was made in some urban areas, it was a bad if not disastrous result. In some cases the wounds were self-inflicted. The popular SNP MSP Margo Macdonald was effectively deselected by internal party politics. She stood as an Independent and won a seat – at the expense of the SNP. Furthermore the stupidity and pettiness of party members meant that key figures such as Mike Russell and Andrew Wilson were placed so far down the lists that they stood no chance of getting elected. The SNP will suffer greatly from the loss of two of their most intelligent, articulate and thoughtful politicians – it is not as if they are exactly overburdened with talent. However one bright spot was the election of George Reid, a fine politician - wise, balanced and a true internationalist nationalist. He will be the Speaker of the new parliament and in that role will bring a gravitas and dignity which will be necessary. The Nationalists can also take hope from the fact that whilst the SNP lost seats the number of MSPs who support Scottish independence actually grew. The Greens and the Socialists all support the independence cause – making a total of 41 MPs who are publicly committed to it (and one suspects that there are a number of others amongst the Liberals and even a few Labour who have strong sympathies).
The Tories did rather well. At least by the somewhat pathetic standards of recent years and in the face of opinion polls that seemed to suggest meltdown (it is interesting that voting conservative is now deemed to be such a shameful thing that pollsters have to factor into their opinion polls those who will vote conservative but are ashamed to admit it!). They won three constituency seats and managed to maintain their 17 seats. A revival is was not but at least for those of a conservative persuasion there are signs of hope.
Those with sharp minds will note that this leaves us with 17 seats unaccounted for. And this was the biggest surprise of the election. Four independents were elected – the aforementioned Margo Macdonald, the rebel ex Labour MP Denis Canavan, John Swinburne (Senior Citizens Party) and Dr Jean Turner (elected on the single issue of a hospital closure). But the real story was the increase in the number of Green and Scottish Socialist MSPS. We now have seven Greens and six Reds. Along with the Tartan nationalists, blue conservatives, ever so slightly pink Labourites, yellow Liberals and purple/grey independents – it certainly makes for a colourful rainbow parliament.
So what is the Christian response to all this?
1) Let us give thanks for our politicians and for the freedom we have to elect them. Yes there are many things that we could be cynical about but as good Christians we know that cynicism is of the devil. We are realistic. We know that human sinfulness pervades politics. We do not trust politicians – any more than we can absolutely trust anyone else. But we can we thankful that there are those who are prepared to offer public service in this way and that we have a choice.
2) Secondly we must be thankful for the variety that there is in the Scottish Parliament. A six party system may seem to be a recipe for confusion for those who like ‘strong’ government. But to be honest it is far better than the culture of spin and back room politics which has so become the norm in British politics. And it is a far better system than the US where despite its democratic credentials the fact is that only the wealthy (or those who have substantial financial backing) can be elected. The notion that a retired GP who objects to the closure of a local hospital can defeat a government minister delights me. And if the price is that this variety must include Socialists and Greens so be it. I hope they will bring a little bit more than protest and I am sure that the Parliament will be more conscious of the environment and the poor because of them.
3) We should also be thankful for the Christian influence that exists. A number of the MSPs are professing Christians. I was particularly delighted at the election of Murdo Fraser, the Conservative MSP. He is a rising star and a fine Christian. We pray for him and other believers who have to operate with the highest of standards in the murkiest of worlds.
4) I also believe that this parliament offers an opportunity for Christian involvement which is unprecedented in recent history. Firstly minority concerns have to be listened to. Secondly the parliament is small enough and the coalitions majority small enough that every vote counts. Thirdly we must continue to pray. God can work through the hearts of Trots as well as Tories.
And finally…. back to Ms Kane and her lack of sartorial elegance. I for one will not judge her on her dress sense (that would be hypocrisy in the extreme), nor will I judge her on her lack of professional political skills – that is after all one the reasons she was elected. Nor can I condemn her and her fellow Socialists and Nationalists who all took the oath of allegiance under protest. It is an absurdity that a modern democracy insists on its MSPs swearing allegiance to a Queen whom they wish to see deposed. No – Ms Kane and her colleagues are a welcome addition to our new rainbow parliament (and a definite improvement on some of ‘Blair’s Babes’ – the suited, talentless, party ‘yes’ women and men so beloved of New Labour). But they will do well to pay attention to the Prime Ministers understanding –espoused in an excellent interview in the Times last week – where he stated that he would have to answer to God for what he had done in Iraq. Would that all our politicians recognized that ultimately it is not the Queen who is sovereign, nor the people, nor the party – but only the King of Kings. My prayer is that Ms Kane will come to see that she will answer to a God she does not believe in and that she and all our MSPs would come to know that God as Lord and Saviour even whilst she is in the Scottish Parliament. She would certainly be very welcome to attend the Church just across the street from the Parliament – St Columbas Free Church – whether she choses to come in blue jeans or not!
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