SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT ANY LEADERSHIP RACE

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorizedTags:, , , , , ,

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT ANY LEADERSHIP RACE

My first thought is will there be a leadership race? It seems to me that great attempts are being made to try and ensure no contest takes place.

I can see the attraction, no need to discuss or debate policy differences, priorities etc. Then there is the expense, the SNP are totally skint facing a General Election this year where normally the SNP would spend in the region of £1.5 million pounds……money they don’t have and where there is no prospect of raising that money, or anything like it! 

Spending perhaps many thousands on an internal election when the quickest check on the donations the Party has not been receiving, verified by the Electoral Commission register, indicates only the slightest trickle of donations in terms of inflow. I may be wrong but I have not seen the sort of corrective actions in the last year to turn last year’s financial crisis around.

The problems don’t end there, any election would have to reveal the latest membership numbers and I suspect they may create more problems for the leadership. Worse they can’t call on the branches to bail them out. By changing the rules the leadership assumed “Ownership” of those funds last year as they required that money to avoid potentially going out of business as it was only those funds that secured sufficient liquidity to stay afloat. That was a one time move highly unlikely to provide a regular solution in the future.

I see in the newspapers Swinney and Forbes were having a “secret meeting”. Again that perhaps suggests trying to avoid a contest with the two, as yet unconfirmed candidates, work out some sort of shared platform and agreement. Check your fingers Kate!

However even if they do reach agreement, how do they stop others deciding to contest the leadership.? I am in the USA at the moment but I have received news that there is at least one other potential candidate already engaged in raising the 100 signatures they need to enter the contest.

I just love SNP democracy. He needs to find these 100 members from at least twenty different branches of the Party. He needs individually signed nominations, the originals, as HQ will not accept scanned documents. To round it off they require to be lodged at SNP HQ by Monday.

Now remember this is a Party that controls all email addresses centrally, no open directory of branch information exists. So to be a candidate you need investigative skills as well.

I think it’s safe to say these rules were written and are being operated in a manner to dissuade anyone outside the current power circle standing.

Personally I am glad I have no vote because if John Swinney is the latest continuity candidate, as he surely is, then I think that is unsupportable as it is continuing on the current path that will lead to electoral disaster later in the year, and with the resultant loss of the Westminster short money thereafter, will completely cripple the SNP for 2026.

As for Kate Forbes her support for Freeports rules her out for me. As has been pointed out to me by many people all the SNP MSP’s supported Freeports so they are all ruled out. Now you know why I am glad I have no vote.

It is at moments like this that I am grateful that the political party membership thing is behind me. I have outlined a host of problems involving policy, priorities, finance, organisation, internal democracy etc. All too much for me I just want to get on convincing more and more Scots of the desperate need for Independence and to end the colonial plunder of our nations resources.

You know something? At this stage I don’t need a political party for that. Hopefully by the time I do at least one Party will have got their act together and I will be happy to work with them at that stage.

Somehow sadly I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

I am, as always

Yours for Scotland 

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48 thoughts on “SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT ANY LEADERSHIP RACE”

    1. Lol , Duncanio . Canine fodder , sheep fodder , hell , what’s the difference ? Well our canine friends at least display a degree of autonomy on occasion .

      The entire Yousaf * resignation * routine has the same foul reek coming from it as the Sturgeon ” step down ” ( I suspect that is/was more of a ” step back ” , in the hope the present – and yet to come – crises will dissipate sufficiently to enable the return of She Who Should Be Scorned ) : eg Stoogeon – ” I still have plenty left in the tank ” to ” I’m doin’ a runner and f*** the shit I’m leaving in my wake for others to deal with ” a week or so later : and Yousaf ” I will not resign , the Greens are fabulous ” to ” I’m resigning because …..eh ……? ” some faceless/nameless * Senior Party Member telt me to , or else !

      Some entity is controlling the SNP and it’s definitely NOT the ordinary members ( baa baa baa ) . Whom/whatever that entity is , they/it are/is definitely NOT acting in the best interests of either that Party or our country .

      This should be glaringly obvious to anyone with a functioning intelligence .

      Liked by 13 people

      1. Certainly not to Scotland and its people.

        But judging by the sycophantic comments in rag’s like the National there seem to be plenty of SNP poodles that are blindly loyal to the cabal …

        Liked by 2 people

  2. The SNP are in their death throes. I’m just worried about the amount of damage that they and the Greens will cause before they are hopefully kicked out. The fraud that is Nicola Sturgeon destroyed democracy in the SNP long ago. She didn’t work alone either. Even now, I can hardly believe that I wrote that.

    Liked by 14 people

    1. Today the SNP are a dead man walking- this is the legacy of Sturgeon. Whether by design or through entitled laziness and incompetence she has done a lot of damage to Scotland and the SNP. She missed an open goal on independence during Brexit. The SNP did not need the BHA – Sturgeon wanted it. Her priorities were trans rights – it is what she spoke about when she had the floor at the UN and it is all she has cared about. Trans hate crime is worse than ever after the bungled nonsense of the Sturgeon cabal. Why was Swinney so loyal to this? There are good and bad answers to that and the answer matters.

      There is one hope I can see: Swinney as FM (he will end in flames because the toxic pit is still deep and deadly but I suspect he knows this) with Forbes as deputy FM – ready for.a future coronation. Between them they can follow center left policies and point to each other for the lack of extremism – and point to governing by debate, not diktat by diddies.

      Liked by 9 people

      1. “Between them they can follow center left policies”. If only.

        The lady in waiting (Is that still allowed?) negotiated a partnership with Tory Westminster to introduce their ultra right-wing tax-avoidance creations to Scotland. ”center left” she is not!

        Liked by 13 people

  3. Whatever they do I fear they cannot arrest their decline, they will not disappear but be diminished in terms of elected MSP/MP’s. To prosper and have time to sort themselves out they need to be out of office for a decade. If they do disappear it will be the end of a long story.

    I agree about independence not needing political support now but in time it will be necessary. Let’s get behind the ISP. They are a breath of fresh air and support the people’s sovereignty. Unlike the others they have no truck for Westminster.

    Liked by 15 people

    1. I feel it would be. a good thing if the SNP were wiped off the map at the GE – though probably they will blame the lack of Sturgeon and not her legacy … none so blind …

      Liked by 12 people

  5. Hi Iain,

    I think I’m the SNP member trying to get in the ballot paper for the leadership contest.

    It’s hard but from a standing start yesterday i already have 40 nominations and others on the way. I reckon I’ve just about cleared the 20 branch threshold but will not take anything for granted.

    Could you please circulate amongst Salvo members ? If they are SNP members , I’d be grateful if they email me on t1feu@hotmail.com and I can arrange for them to sign the nomination form.

    Yours for Scotland

    Graeme

    Liked by 14 people

    1. Sorry Graeme no can do. Salvo are strictly non Party Political so we can’t get involved. What I can and will do is Put out the information on my personal X account and Facebook. I have thousands of followers in both but I suppose it’s how many are allowed to read it by the controlling authorities.

      Liked by 10 people

    2. Good luck Graeme. I think you are flogging a dead horse trying to get the SNP back on track but I wish you every success in your attempt! And no I’m not a member or you would have have had my nomination.

      Liked by 9 people

    3. I haven’t wished I was still in the SNP since just after the Autumn conference in Aberdeen in 2019. If I had a vote Graeme, that would be another one you could count on. I wish you luck.

      Liked by 8 people

  6. Not so random thought. You touched o n it without actually saying that there is no way any candidate can succeed in pulling the SNP together unless they deal with that Constitution and perhaps take a good sharp terms of the contract of the CEO. Both would ensure that the structures at present in place would cease to override the legal responsibilities of the NEC and ensure that attempts to locate legitimate information, solve problems, ensure that expenditure is considered by the NEC BEFORE large sums of money are spent etc. etc. I must say I’d like to see Kate because OK I don’t agree with all her opinions but for God’s sake she is BRIGHT!, experienced and she listens and has shown no sign either as a Constituency MSP or Minister of shoving her opinions or her faith down anyone’s throat. .  Very rare in the SNP these days.

    Liked by 7 people

    1. I must disagree with your view Dot , if she did listen which you state, she would have noticed the overwhelming VOCIFEROUS opposition to the GRRB by the broad electorate , a bill that was nowhere listed within the snp manifesto , you may say that political parties don’t always adhere rigidly to their manifestos, which is why they should be held to account, but sturgeon stuck rigidly to her 2015 manifesto when she said that a vote for the snp was not a vote for independence and most of us know she meant it

      I was also disgusted that her cowardice in deliberately avoiding the GRRB vote failed to protect her unborn daughter’s safety and security from deviants and perverts encouraged by this reviled bill

      The FIRST action of any parent especially a mother should be to protect their child , IMO she put her position , salary, pension and promotion before her duties as a mother , and that I find unconscionable and despicable

      Liked by 2 people

      1. The ‘gender woo woo’ is going to raise its head again if John Swinney has anything to do with it which means that Kate Forbes will have to find several new excuses not to have to vote against it. How can she do that if she is in the Cabinet? Collective responsibility. She is also a neoliberal and people need to understand what that means in terms of Scotland’s assets.

        Liked by 2 people

  7. By eevery metric one looks at the SNP is a busted charade. A political party going to the graveyard.

    Bought and sold for English gold the SNP sold out on everything from independence to Brexit to the now acceptance of the planned Freeport and Special Enterprise does it matter if Forbes or Swinney are the gerrymandered ones to next have a shot at being the British Establishment’s colonial placeman.

    And mmake no mistake the so called Freeports that encompass huge areas of Scotland will effectively become in many ways separate from Scotland.

    Different ttax arrangements from low tax to no tax, light regulation of wages, of health and safety, of planning, these ports will even have the right to compulsory purchase. Where then for local government or the Scottish pretend parliament. Or put another way, what place for the voters. The old East India Trading Company didn’t give many votes!

    But Forbes and Swinney are up for all of this. As are the SNP who voted for it.

    Ah well, unless Donkey wakes up working for the East India Trading Company might be his lot.

    Liked by 11 people

  8. I am so glad to be out of that CULT, not that I was ever IN the CULT I left in 2017, I should have left in 2015 as I knew then Sturgeon was never going to fight for INDEPENDENCE.. The photo’s of her walking down side streets in London with BPRIS (of all people) in 2015 when she attended the London memorial for the veterans of war.. The daggers she was giving Cameron, Boris was not even anywhere being PM then, but off they were having a right old blether down some side streets on their own some..

    The question is WHY? why was she entertaining the Clown wannabe PM..

    I can only imagine she knew he was going to be PM and a deal was made between them..As CaltonJock stated on his blog, Boris was asking her WHAT PRICE NICOLA… I think CaltonJock was spot on..

    Especially when in 2016 NO fight was actually put up for the change in Circumstances, then in 2017 no fight was happening to win the GE that year..

    I was a member when Swinney was Leader before, I saw and heard how Boring he was, and even if he was a clever man, he was NO leader, and he proved that with the loss of membership, conference were boring, albeit small, but that man could not light a match let alone a room of people..

    I also agree of Forbes, her deal with GOVE on the FREEPORTS rules her out for me, yes, I believe she will have what it takes to lead the party, but she will never get us INDEPENDENCE, as she is too deeply involved with WM & USA politics. Hence the FREEPORTS agreement she signed as finance secretary..

    Best to hope for there is good Devolved Governance, and that seems to be suiting the Party members these days.. And it is those people those members and voters of that party that are holding us tied to WM who is pillaging our resources now, but once those FREEPORTS come into play, Scotland will be sold off as fast as WM is stealing our assets. I am 75 now, Since Sturgeon I lost any hope of Indy in MY lifetime, & that was confirmed by Dumza & now keeping it in the Clique the end of that party is nigh once more under Swinney.. And thank god for it..

    Liked by 13 people

  10. Blimey, if John Swinney is the answer, what the hell was the question. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if my old memory serves, the last time he was leader, they had to send to Westminster and bring Alex Salmond back. They cannae dae that this time. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

    I’m like you Iain, I don’t think Kate Forbes with her enthusiasm for freeports is the answer either. Sadly looking at the current SNP there doesn’t appear to be anyone with any integrity or backbone to do the job. I’m no surprised that the deputy FM is not considered at all. She couldnae run a minage, as they say.

    Personally I don’t care, the sooner the SNP disappear the better. They must be sweatin noo waiting for mair arrests. That’ll no help at all. Whit a wee shame.

    Oh aye, I suppose if it is Swinney, we’ll still be lumbered with all the woo woo nonsense and the hate bill. I feel for poor auld Scotland, we dinnae deserve this shower.

    Liked by 10 people

  11. Has Sturgeon ‘ordered’ Swinney to return to the fray in order that their ‘secrets’ remain in redacted form?

    Swinney and Forbes having a ‘secret meeting’, presumably, to divvy up the spoils, disnae in my view sit particularly well wi’ Forbes purportedly Free Presbyterian guiding tenets.

    Forbes recently published review of her ‘achievements so far’ comes in the form of an eight page (newspaper) in which she has managed to ‘cram’ 33 photos of herself at various locations throughout the Highlands. Unfortunately it would appear her involvement in setting up the Freeports scandal was unable to meet the deadline before going to press as no mention of that is apparent likewise the word INDEPENDENCE has once again been airbrushed.

    We need to Liberate ourselves from the bonds of corruption whether at Holyrood or Westminster and only one way to achieve that. #End The Union!!

    Liked by 14 people

  12. It is difficult to make informed comment when everything is so secretive. However, the decision on SNP Leader is for the members alone, but following rules and constitutions has not been an SNP priority of late.

    So, who will be the deciders – the members, or will they be excluded and a decision taken by the ????

    As Iain has mentioned, it looks like whoever is elected to Party Leader or is given the job it will be unlikely to inspire the electorate if either of the 2 mentioned reaches the top of the greasy pole that is the internal politics of the SNP nowadays.

    Of course, when the job of Leader has been decided it is up to the MSPs who will become FM.

    According to most political commentators it will be a choice between an elderly devolutionist (so no change there) and a younger pretender to the throne who negotiated a partnership with Westminster to create ultra right-wing ‘Special Economic Zones’ and ‘Freeports’ on behalf of the people of Scotland.

    Soon enough, we shall see how much the people like that Tory doctrine being introduced to Scotland and going into partnership with the Tory Westminster government that has not elected a majority of Conservative and Unionist MPs in Scotland since 1955!

    Liked by 11 people

  13. Swinney may have announced his intention to run, or should I say be appointed as the next FM but reports are emerging that a scandal is about to break about an Indian Company with interests in Scotland.

    Apparently it is being alleged that he was wined and dined by them in Mumbai with the question about who paid for the trip, and if it was not Swinney, was the benefit declared in the register of interests.

    No doubt we will maybe hear more as the days move forward.

    John Swinney to launch SNP leadership bid in Edinburgh to succeed Humza Yousaf – Daily Record

    Liked by 8 people

    1. No-one is clean in politics today – even Forbes commits the societal sin of being a wee free (!!!!! interesting to note that self same religious position was fine for Blackford)

      What concerns me most here is that I expect that intentions were good but the competence and due diligence were not in the room. This is a big problem: assume the SNP DID get our independence – the deal they would negotiate would make Haiti seem the favoured child of France.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. The fact that the London Imperial press and the SNP clique agree on a swinney coronation, and act like demented Daleks (see murdochian gimp kenny Farquarson’s contribution ) at the prospect of Forbes, tells you all you need to know.

    Liked by 9 people

    2. “still hanging on, although really don’t know why”

      Its for rare moments like this you’re hanging on for. You’re grabbing your chance to ensure words like ‘indy’, ‘withdraw/end the treaty of union’, ‘sovereign Scot’, etc etc are amplified in msm for a start. Lets hope there’s a hundred remaining alert…..

      Liked by 5 people

    3. For would-be signatories, Graeme will be on the Pensioners 4 Indy stall at Glasgow Green tomorrow for AUOB rally from 1pm – 3pm with the required hard copies of the nomination forms for signatories. You will need your membership number for the form – dont be like Bojo the clown 😉

      (sorry, it was the word ‘signaTORIES’ conjuring up obtrusive thoughts……)

      Liked by 1 person

  16. I wonder if a devout christian gets elected as leader will that person tell the Scottish people about the wealth that is being looted from our country. Apparently the christian god is very serious about telling the truth if you do not do so an eternity of hell awaits.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. Hi Wullie, your remark might well be just a tongue-in-cheek one-liner, so l don’t want to “over-answer” it beyond that premise. However, someone has coincidentally just sent me a riposte by David Robertson (The Wee Flea) to a very anti-Forbes diatribe by Kenny Farquharson in the Times which essentially demonises her Christianity. While not at all assuming you would endorse Farquharson’s article, your brief comment this morning naturally comes to mind, and affords a helpful opportunity to air this important issue. Robertson responds to Farquharson:

      “As for secular Scotland going to Hell. There are some in Scotland who think we are already well on the way there. […] Perhaps we can forgive Kenny for knowing nothing about theology, or Islam – but as a Scottish journalist we surely have a right to expect him to know some history. The Covenanters, like all people had their faults, but without them we would not have had modern Scotland. They believed in limited government, Lex Rex (the law is King, not the other way round), and some degree of religious toleration. Yet thousands of them were judicially murdered. Take for example the Wigtown martyrs, Margaret McLauchlin (aged 63) and Margaret Wilson (18) who were executed by drowning because they refused to bow the knee to the States edict on how they should worship.

      Kate Forbes is the heir of those women. Kenny Farquharson is the heir of the persecuting Establishment. […] Kenny is very happy for those who share his religious/philosophical beliefs to wield their secular power and dictate to us how we are governed and live our day to day lives. In modern Scotland we are told what to eat, drink, what we can use to heat our homes, and now even what we can or cannot say in our own families! The old Kirk Session has nothing on the new Secular Stasi!“

      PERSECUTING KATE FORBES — A RESPONSE TO KENNY FARQUHARSON

      https://theweeflea.com/2024/05/01/persecuting-kate-forbes-a-response-to-kenny-farquharson-ct/

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Well done, David Robertson. I wonder if the police have bundled Kenny Farquharson into a police van late at night and taken him to their station, as they did that 74 year old lady recently?

        Liked by 1 person

  17. Scotland – ‘The Sovereign People’ – The power of a ‘People-Centric Community:

    The SNP, and most other political entities, (ISP excluded), reflect and exhibit only the political ideologies and policy frameworks that represent the paradigms of the Westminster government, and Corporate Businesses, supported by financially powerful individuals. They certainly do not reflect the requirements of the ‘People’ who they are meant to represent.

    It is time for thoughtful consideration and applicable change within the confines of Scottish politics and importantly the ‘Peoples’ position within society. The need for change, from mere objects of the their government, to people who see themselves as subjects and owners of their own sovereignty. That ownership brings tangible rewards and responsibilities that must be grasped, earnestly.

    As of now, our Scottish Parliament is complicit in maintaining a subordinate ideological relationship with a Westminster government that has a ‘State-Centric’ sovereignty perspective.

    What exacerbates our people’s inability to engage with ‘popular-democracy’ is that they are fooled by the politicians who argue that our democratic rights are permanently available to us every four or five years, as electors. Within those periods our democratic rights vanish, and all politicians become conveniently unaccountable. The ‘People’ therefore become the vassals of the State, not the recipients.

    We need education and an active engagement with our communities in order to revoke our subordinate social status and then rebuild our society for ourselves, not for the benefit of government and its institutions. This liberty will only materialise through our apolitical ‘Liberation Scotland’.

    Neil🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

    Liked by 14 people

  18. Excellent news. Thank you, Graeme. Now can we find a few more real independence fighters to apply as well so that the party Controllers will find it more difficult to railroad their choice through?

    Liked by 11 people

  19. If Swinney and Forbes are the best the disaster that is the SNP can come up with, god help them!

    Swinney was  and is incompetent and incapable of leading a conga, never mind a party. He is a devolutionist through and through. 
    Freeports Forbes wants to hand over nearly half of Scotland to carpetbaggers. 
    Yet they are shouting ’vote SNP and rejoin the EU’…does the silly wee woman not know Freeports and the EU are not compatible.

    With these two no hopers in control, it won’t be an ‘up’ for Swinney, it will be down the Swanney for the party.
    80 years of hard graft and integrity, swept away by 10 years of nonentities, charlatans and narcissists.
    Time for them ALL to go – the sooner, the better.

    The independence needs cohesion. Time to regroup and hit the ground running in 2026.

    Liked by 12 people

  21. The New Westminster puppet is being anointed and put in place without the SNP membership voting , another plant to continue the distruction of the SNP from inside insuring that independence is never going to be the focus of the party again. It’s time to kick this lot into touch once and for all . The colonial masters think we will start voting Labour to legitimise the continued theft of our resources and gerrymander a stiched up with a new constitution a Vow mark 2 . This will be sold as the kingdom of heaven but in reality is the biggest quisling betrayal of our colonial status by a SNP we fullish trusted. We need a alternative to this now , whether it’s the ISP or Independent candidates for independence. UK, Ok has no credibility, there is no democracy, in this failed state which is taking us all down the greasy poll to medieval feudalism .

    Liked by 9 people

  22. @ Graeme McCormick

    Unfortunately I’m no longer a Member of the SNP, I quit in 2021 in disgust over any intention by Sturgeon to facilitate any meaningful push for IndyRef2, however I’m still as committed to the cause of Scottish Independence as I’ve ever been over my lifetime (getting on a bit now !!) and this “Coronation” of John Swinney as Leader & FM is just another example of the stage managed theatrical that is the SNP leadership ….. I wish you well in your endeavours to achieve the necessary endorsements from the Membership & Branches, let the foot soldiers of the Party have their say.

    In the Immortal words of Lance-Corporal Jones (Dads Army) … ” they don’t like it up ’em “.

    Liked by 7 people

  23. Here are 5 questions folks might find interesting. They are in relation to an Indian entrepreneur with a history of financial issues. The questions have been posed by a well known political commentator and relate to an Indian entrepreneur and the SG.

    1. How did Gupta come to own 2 Scottish metalworks and be one of Scotland’s largest landowners without putting a penny down?

    2. What did John Swinney do in Mumbai in Dec. 2017?

    3. Why did Scottish Govt hand Gupta £580 million in govt guarantees?

    4. How many people does Gupta employ in Scotland today?

    5. In how many countries has Gupta faced corruption probes?

    Liked by 8 people

  24. Pingback: Braverman tells Sunak to ‘own’ dismal election results and ‘fix it’ but says it’s too late for Tories to change leader – as it happened - TraderStarter

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