Cabinet Secretary for Education, Michael Russell, has lived in Argyll for a considerable time – almost twenty years and has been an SNP constituency delegate from the former Cowal North Branch.
Yesterday (Sunday 15th August) he was again present at the SNP’s Argyll & Bute constituency meeting, this time as the candidate constituency members have just chosen to represent their party at the 2011 Scottish Election.
Thanking Constituency Members for their support, Mr Russell noted that the SNP, under its retiring constituency MSP, Jim Mather, had contributed positively to development in Argyll and committed himself to continuing that work, promising to be busy in getting around all areas of this famously far flung and beautiful constituency.
He said: ‘I know that the vast majority of people have been impressed by the work of the minority SNP Government and now I hope we can get the opportunity of a second term in order to build on our many successes.
‘Of course there are difficult times ahead because of gross financial mismanagement by Labour and the swingeing Liberal and Tory cuts at Westminster which are going too far and too fast given the dependence of this area on public expenditure.
‘None the less we have huge potential in Argyll and Bute in renewables and in lots of other key sectors. We must maintain our ambition and our vision and I pledge to fight a positive campaign about what has been and can be achieved here and in Scotland’.
The meeting went on to discuss its coming campaign strategy – but naturally they are keeping their powder dry on this one/
The emphasis on a positive campaign is not only welcome but politic.
We watched audience reactions to various approaches during the run of the Genera Election campaign earlier this year (2010). They clearly relaxed and became open to informed discussion and analysis when faced with a speaker who was largely non-partisan and who presented a balanced and evidenced picture.
Conversely, the old fashioned, automatic, bash-the-enemy approach – usually untroubled by facts and analysis – produced a noted shrinking of bodies into themselves in recoil and boredom.
All politicians need to realise that voters have moved on – and a considerable distance. Most have not, in any real way, actually looked at voters and listened to them for a very long time. So the old cannon-fodder diet offered them persists still.
People take it as a mark of respect to be offered information and evidence. It doesn’t happen often enough.
Let’s hope that the experienced politician and minister that is Michael Russell can help to lift the level of political engagement in Argyll.
Watch your back Mr Russell , I understand SNP members are taking bets on the likelyhood of you surviving as candidate until the election .
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Kintyre1 clearly has no experience of political processes in the SNP or, most likely, any other party. Our members are democrats. In the thirty years I’ve been in the party I’ve only known a handful of people to gripe about the result once it’s been democratically decided. When the contest is done the overwhelming majority roll their sleeves up and get on cheerfully with the campaign.
The comment flies in the face of the C/A meeting where enthusiasm for moving forward with the campaign was unanimous. We had a such a warm and convivial meeting that we went on to chat, in glorious sunshine, over a lemonade. No gripes, no bookies, no reports of bookies lurking in the undergrowth, not even a chill in the breeze;-) A good time was had by all and now the internet is buzzing with bright ideas and positive momentum.
So let me know who’s taking these bets. I like bets I know I can win;-)
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Don’t kid yourself Anne. Many of us believe that Kintyre 1 is a disgruntled SNP member !
Mike Russell doesn’t need to worry about the SNP membership.
I attended the meeting on Sunday and the get together afterwards and I can tell Kintyre 1 that every one in the room and CA as a whole, will be working 100% to return Mike Russell has the SNP MSP for the Constituency, and I say that has someone who voted against Mike Russell in the recent PPC election.
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kintyre1 is a curious beast. Always anonymous, generally out of touch, consistently unpleasant and apparently without any political belief to advocate other than a paranoid obsession about the Scottish National Party in Argyll – a very odd sort of agent provocatuer.
I don’t agree with Mark about the possibility of this being a disgruntled SNP member though ; anyone who can write paens of praise about John MacKay and unpleasant bile about Jimmy Reid would be permanently disgruntled in the company of the nationalists that I know
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He actually reminds me of Brian Wilson who, when interviewed, turned every answer into an anti-SNP rant, no matter what the question was. He was an SNP member. I voted for him in a mock election at Dunoon Grammar School in the sixties.
Andy
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Let’s not forget that Mike MacKenzie will be running for the list, so there’s a good chance we could return 2 SNP MSP’s for Argyll and Bute.
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Speaking as another member who voted against Mike Russell – or rather for Mike McKenzie – I endorse Mark McCormack’s statement. Kintyre may not know it, he evidently doesnt or prefers to ignore the fact – but people of principle in the SNP back the democratically elected candidate as a matter of loyalty to the Party and the Cause! Wouldnt other Party’s candidates want to be in that position!
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