So Alex Salmond got his way after all. David Kerr will run for the SNP in Glasgow North East.
Labour “pointed out that Mr Kerr had no local credentials” while Mr Kerr’s campaign director, SNP MP Stewart Hosie, claimed that he actually had “strong connections to the constituency”.
Not for the first time, this blog asks: wherein lies the truth?
Matt Qvortrup: Numpty....
7 minutes ago
For the record I will go through the manifold inaccuracies in the Scotsman story.
1.David Kerr is not the fourth choice, but the second choice. Two candidates put their names forward for Glasgow North East – James Dornan and David Kerr. Grant Thoms did not put his name forward and neither did Anne McLaughlin (who is already an MSP).
2.Grant Thoms did not 'step down' when it ‘emerged’ that he was the author of a controversial blog. He never concealed that he was the author of Tartan Hero. He pulled the blog because he knew the press would be sniffing around for things to make a controversy about. He did not ‘step down’ as the candidate for the by-election – rather, he indicated that although he was the general election candidate he was not interested in being a by-election candidate. There has been much speculation about this which has overlooked the obvious fact that since Grant is a member of the SNP’s National Executive Committee, National Organisation Committee and is Convener of the Election Committee (as well as being a councillor and campaigner for green energy) he has rather a lot on his plate already which cannot be off-loaded at the drop of a hat.
The demands of a by-election are very different to the demands of a general election, which is why by-election candidates are selected afresh. The same thing happened in Glasgow East – Lachie McNeil was the general election candidate. Like Grant he decided not to go for the selection for the by-election, as he had too many work commitments which could not be dropped.
3.Nobody in the SNP is branding the selection a ‘stitch up.’ Mr Kerr was not Alex Salmond’s ‘preferred’ candidate. Alex Salmond does not have any role either in vetting or selecting the candidate, neither does Nicola Sturgeon. Potential candidates are vetted by the Election Committee and selected by the local party. The Election Committee is convened by Grant Thoms, Alex Salmond is not a member nor is Nicola Sturgeon. Likewise SNP HQ in Edinburgh does not select by-election candidates, although HQ staff are involved in running the campaign itself.
4. James Dornan had to stand down because he was appointed by Glasgow City Council to Culture and Sport Glasgow while he had a trust deed. He was not bankrupt. Arguably there may have been carelessness on his part in not researching the application of charities law to his position but if that is the case Glasgow City Council was equally careless as they did not advise him that he should not accept the appointment if he had a trust deed.
5. There were no accusations within the Glasgow party that Mr Dornan was bundled out so that Mr Salmond's favoured candidate could get the nod. The Scotsman has made that up.
6. It did not seem at one point this week that Mr Kerr was about to step aside. The Scotsman has made that up.
7. SNP members had a tough choice to make between James Dornan and David Kerr. Both have good qualities in different ways. David Kerr is probably better presentationally than James and is a very good speaker. However James has earned a lot of goodwill from voters in the area with the schools campaign and bonds very well with people on the doorstep - I believe that is what tipped the balance in his favour at the selection meeting. Either one of them however would have made a good candidate. What happened with James was unfortunate but these things happen. I would hope that the Council, as well as individual councillors, would be a bit more careful in future about reading the small print as it applies to the various arms length organisations they set up. SNP members are quite happy with David Kerr, as he is just as good a candidate as James would have been.
8.The Scotsman has published unquestingly Labour's claims that their candidate is ‘local’ because he is a NE CLP office bearer. In fact however Willie Bain lives in London.
Indy:
That was a textbook deflection attempt. But I was actually querying Stewart Hosie's claim that David Kerr has “strong connections to the constituency”.
You posted the story SU.
I don't know what David Kerr's connections are to the constituency. Until quite recently he worked for the BBC. As you may know BBC employees are not allowed to be politically active so I know very little about David Kerr's personal background, where he lives, where his family lives etc.
I dare say a biog will be prepared when the campaign is launched which may answer your questions.
My focus was on Stewart Hosie’s quote. I could also have linked to the BBC or Herald.
It is known that David Kerr was born in Glasgow and has worked with the BBC there but that’s certainly not enough to establish “strong connections to the constituency”. Anyway, I look forward to finding out. I do hope Stewart Hosie wasn’t stretching the truth.
Incidentally, I must share this with you: a hilarious cybernat comment from 9th July, shortly after the local party had chosen James Dornan over David Kerr.
“As already pointed out, democracy is alive and well in the SNP. No imposing of a candidate not acceptable to the local party. Something Labour activists can only dream about.”
Don't really get your point there SU. No candidate has been 'imposed.'
Kezia Dugdale has been floating this idea - in fact, going a good deal further and suggesting that the SNP leadership were responsible for the Sunday Herald story which caused James to stand down, in order to get David Kerr in.
Amusingly she claimed that this was told to her by furious SNP activists.
I am not sure which is funnier - the idea that Alex Salmond would deliberately put a story in the press that damaged the SNP so that 'his boy' could get a candidacy in a by-election or the idea that furious SNP activists would go running to Lord Foulkes' researcher with their grudges!
In any case both she and you are confusing the SNP with the Labour Party. The only circumstances where SNP HQ would impose a candidate is where an approved candidate could not be found by the local organisation. You would need to go back to the 1980s however to find an actual incidence of that however.
Yes, I noticed your “lies from start to finish” accusation against Kezia, and indeed your frankly rather sinister claim, when she rebuffed your allegation by saying that “you've no idea who I know or don't know”, that actually you do.
Now, you seem to be forgetting that I hold no candle for Labour, or any party. But if you want to malign Kezia, please do so on her blog, not behind her back on mine.
Moving on, my curiosity was piqued by your inside knowledge about the SNP’s selection meeting. Would you care to tell us what level of party involvement you have?
I was at the selection meeting, though I did not vote as I am not a member in NE.
The selection meeting was open to all members - as is the meeting tonight.
I know most of the members who voted - and I know that there is as much chance of any SNP activist discussing internal matters with George Foulkes' researcher as there is of Alex Salmond winning Wimbledon.
You would be amazed at what various people tell me (in strict confidence) via email.
Your party is a lot more porous than you seem to think.
Of course we are porous. There is no bar on people discussing things.
I for example am quite happy to tell you that if I had had a vote I would have voted for James - but I'm also quite happy with David Kerr as the candidate. It was very finely balanced between them - James just inched it because of his leadership role in the Council and in the schools campaign.
If I were not happy, however, I think I would be complaining to someone who could actually do something about it in the SNP - not George Foulkes' office!
Even you must see the absurdity of that idea.
I think you owe Kezia an apology. Absurd it may or may not be, but people behave in absurd ways all the time. There is no way you can be sure enough of your ground here to justify calling her a liar.
SU - yes I believe I can. As I said, I was at the meeting, I know who was backing James.
I asked Zezia on her blog to tell us where and when the selection meeting took place and who chaired it. This information is not secret, it is known to hundreds of SNP members.
If Kezia has in fact been approached - as she claims - by 'activists who backed James Dornan' she will be able to provide that information.
If she can't provide that information it suggests she was telling porkies.
And if she doesn't float?
http://www.snp.org/node/15503
Following his endorsement Mr Kerr said:
"I'm deeply honoured to be given the chance to serve the people of Glasgow North East.
"I'll be working flat out between now and polling day to earn their trust – whenever Labour have the courage to call the election.
"This in area I have a deep affection for. My family first settled here in the 19th century and lived here for generations, and my early years were spent in Duke Street in Dennistoun.
"Labour has held this seat since 1935. They've had their chance and have failed. It's time for a change. Working together, the SNP and the people of this Glasgow North East have got what it takes to see this community thrive."
About David:
Born in Glasgow in 1973, David Kerr (35) spent his early years in Dennistoun before moving to Condorrat near Cumbernauld.
***
Strong enough?
Sorry to pull this away from being a dialogue-but what basis is there for saying that Willie Bain lives in London?
Granted, he lectures there; but that hardly requires 24/7 residence. After all, SNP MPs work in London and stay there without being accused of living there. Certainly, I've met Willie in Glasgow enough times to form the view that he lives here-and to be wholly sceptical of any suggestion to the contrary.
Somehow, though, I suspect we've not heard the last of this unsubstantiated allegation-despite (or probably because of) Mr Kerr's complete lack of local credentials.
Thistle:
Eh? You’re kidding, right?! Nowhere near enough!
His ancestry is absolutely irrelevant. And living in Dennistoun as a small child (for a conspicuously undisclosed length of time) and then moving elsewhere doesn’t give him “strong connections”.
Superb! The electorate will laugh this one down Duke Street! :-)
SU
This really is trivial political posturing. Does it really matter what connections Willie Bain, David Kerr, Margaret Curran or John Mason have with any contested seat? This is the sort of colloquial nonsense that holds Scotland back. And it does, because you can see how popular this thread has been. And don't tell me it's exclusive to the SNP. Labour are way down there in the gutter as well.
Did it matter that Barack Obama's fairly recent origins were in Kenya? Did it matter to Americans?
There are far more important things to discuss!
You’re off on a tangent with that one! I’m not suggesting for a minute that whether or not Stewart Hosie was telling the truth has any direct connection to the future wellbeing of people within this constituency. But integrity matters greatly to me and I don’t think that subjecting MPs’ words to scrutiny is either “trivial” or “posturing”.
SU
Don't get me started on 'integrity'.
The trivial political posturing started with Labour and the SNP, and you have merely highlighted it. My point is that the non-integrity associated with these claims is pretty standard stuff, and no worse than George Foulkes accepting a second job as a Lord and campaigning to get rid of the Queen.
The fact that this issue has raised so much interest is sad. I better stop now, or I'm in danger of compromising my own integrity.
“non-integrity ... pretty standard stuff”
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree.
More info, FWIW: David Kerr attended Primary 1 at St Helen's Primary School, Condorrat. So his family had moved out of Glasgow by then. Source: 5:25 in this MP3.
Indy:
You said: “In fact however Willie Bain lives in London.”
I have enquired about this. Willie Bain does not own or rent a flat in London. He lives in Springburn and conducts much of his work from home. When he needs to be in London, he stays overnight in a hotel or B&B.