Sunday 31 May 2015

The SNP stole not only Labour seats but their talent as well it seems

I suppose i must  admit that I was wrong when in a previous post when I commented on the new SNP members  and their making their maiden speech 

Only a few days ago I wrote.
t could be weeks even months before the tedious boring "Tradition" of making a maiden speech there is a convention that maiden speeches should be relatively uncontroversial, often consisting of a general statement of the politician's beliefs and background rather than a partisan comment on a current topic
And then the SNP have been turning  up on Mass shaming the Labour opposition and of course Tommy Shepard maiden speech  which has gone viral


And then he turned up on the Daily Poltics and give  another assured  performance




His political biography is interesting
"Sheppard was born in ColeraineCounty Londonderry in 1959 and moved to nearby Portstewart at the age of 7. He attended the local grammar school in Coleraine and then attended Aberdeen University to study medicine. He graduated with a degree in politics and sociology in 1982. That same year he was elected Vice-President of the NUSand moved to London.[2]He left the NUS in 1984 to work in the East End and in 1986 was elected as a Labour member, on Hackney London Borough Council. In 1990 he became Deputy Leader of the Council.[2] Sheppard contested the Bury St Edmunds at the United Kingdom general election, 1992unsuccessfully for the Labour Party polling 14,767 votes and 23.6% of the vote. He then moved back to Scotland and settled in Edinburgh, originally taking up a position with the District Council. In 1994 he was appointed Assistant General Secretary under John Smith. In 1997 he was made redundant from this role due to internal policy disagreements.[2] He ceased to renew his Labour Party membership in 2003.In 2012 he became the Edinburgh South organiser of the Yes Scotland campaign but only joined the SNP in 2014 after the Scottish independence referendum, 2014 was defeated. He was selected as a candidate for the Edinburgh East constituency[3] and polled 23,188 and 49.2% of the vote securing election with a majority of 9,106 and defeating incumbent Labour MP, Sheila Gilmore in the process."
It has often be said that part of the current success of the SNP is that they sent their most Talented politicians to Holyrood whilst Labour   sent theirs to Westminster Gordon Brown,Alistair Darling, Robin Cook etc

It could be argued by wining 64 seats in the Scottish  Parliament the SNP may have exhausted its Talent but the Independence campaign brought new talent like Sheppard to the fore and now many  are in Westminster.

How Plaid can do the same without the  impetus of an independence campaign garnered  new talent is questionable but then they need to get more of the undoubted talent they have already elected next year to thew Assembly.

For Labour just a perusal of their elected politicians looks that their elected Westminster and Assembly members  cupboard is bare . They had to go foe Kinnock's  son in Aberavon for gods sake.

The three Plaid MPs  certainly have the Talent the danger is that they may be swamped by some of the new SNP intake . They may have agreed (ightly) to work as a Bloc with the SNP  bu t they wil need to have a distinctive Welsh voice.

Its not going to come from the Labour Benches that's ' for sure 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glyn, let's hope the SNP bring a much needed breath of fresh air to the stuffy corridors of Westminister.

As for the young Mr Kinnock, from what I've seen on the television, Tommy Sheppard makes him look like a second rate community councillor.

Anonymous said...

Having read details published relating to a number of the new SNP MPs it is clear they were drawn to the party through campaigns such as the Anti Trident movement and the Yes campaign. It may well be that the Euro referendum may also have a similar result if Plaid engages energetically with the Yes movement.

Anonymous said...

Tommy made a good speech and is getting plaudits because he’s the type of old Labourite, socialist and Trade Unionist who appeals to romantic lefty idealists in Plaid Cymru.

The best SNP debut speech for me was from Joanna Cherry QC, a sharp mind, quick wit and unashamedly nationalist, Plaid Cymru should try it occasionally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UUEURufe68