Yesterday’s Sunday Herald, 6th July, carried an article on a move by Scottish Labour Party members to unseat four ‘List’ MSPs whom they perceive to be the party’s weakest performers.
Three of the four are Central Belt representatives. The fourth is Highlands and Islands MSP, Dave Stewart, who is said to have been strongly opposed to an earlier move to abandon the system of protected places on the list.
This system allows a party to control the identities of those who represent it for possible election from the List by prioritising their order on a pre-published list; and by allowing them not to be challenged internally for their place on that list.
While lobbying from vested interests [like the trades unions and some list members unlikely to survive such reform] saw the proposed reform abandoned, party members now have a greater engagement in the process that sees those at the top of the List considered for retention.
The four named MSPs are due to face what is called a ‘trigger ballot’ – where they have to gain over 50% of a ballot of party members to retain their protected places on the Labour List.
The Herald piece quotes an internal Labour source as indicating that there will be a concerted effort to unseat these four: Stewart; Anne McTaggart and Humzala Malik, former Glasgow councillors, both on the Glasgow List; and Siobhan McMahon who is, on the Scotland Central List.
The Herald’s inside source was quite scathing, saying – reasonably – that it is ‘absurd’ for McTaggart and Malik ‘to be safer in their job as MSPs than they were as councillors’. He is also reported as saying: ‘How could someone who’s spent mot of the past 17 years in the House of Commons and Holyrood have a lower profile than Dave Stewart?’
This matter raises two questions:
Was Mr Stewart aware that his place was to come under pressure and was that the driver of his ill-advised [and ill-informed] spurt of Parliamentary Questions on the Gourock Dunoon passenger ferry issue, which allowed Transport Minister, Keith Brown, politely, to make something of a monkey of him?
Does this move from Scottish Labour indicate that the party may be preparing to come forward with overdue proposals to reform Holyrood?
The List was initially little more than a temporary concession to pacify political parties and some candidates who might not have made it to through constituency representation. The ‘List’ device, however, left Holyrood substantially over provided in parliamentary representation. This was recognised and was a matter intended to be addressed early in the parliament’s life – but which has never been raised.
There is a good argument for – a limited number – of regional as well as constituency MSPs; but it is arguable that these should also be elected directly to their positions, with parties putting forward their candidates in the usual way , by whatever criteria they see fit – and with independents able to put themselves forward.
The result of the September indy referendum is germane here and is twofold:
- If Scotland remains in the union, there is every reason to abandon the List MSP system altogether, in the necessary reform to the governance of the union. The proposed introduction of an elected Senate, to replace the House of Lords, would be likely to include regional constituencies – which would be based on the principle of the current Scottish List regions. This would then be the appropriate forum for the broader concerns of UK regions to be heard and shared, through appropriate and able representatives.
- If Scotland votes to separate from the union and become independent, its current unicameral parliament will no longer be adequate; with a second chamber necessary. This would naturally wish to avoid the diseases of patronage and Buggin’s turn which characterise the traditional UK second chamber of the House of Lords. Such a second Scottish chamber would then become the place for region-wide issues and voices to contribute.
Whatever the result of the indy referendum in September, the Scottish Parliament really does have to up its game.
If Labour is indeed preparing to seize the initiative on proposing reform of Holyrood, regardless of the outcome of the September vote, that would be an energetic and exciting intervention.
