Duncan Thorp - The Perfect Protest Vote

There is a candidate standing in the regional vote in Lothian and also in the Meadows and Morningside council ward. His name is Duncan Thorp. He is 29. He has worked as a journalist and within the Scottish Parliament. He has no affiliation with any party. And he seems like a thoroughly decent guy.







His website is http://www.votethorp.com

I first became aware of his existence after reading the following post at http://scottishpolitics.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/independent_can.html

Now let's be honest, a lot of people are quite fed up with political parties here in Scotland. The bickering, the tantrums, the constant toeing of party lines, the votes in parliament that have all of one party voting one way and all of another party voting the other way. Such robotic thinking and wilful obedience cannot be healthy. Charles Darwin for one would not be impressed with such a stagnant lack of variation going on here. One extra fresh face and truly independent viewpoint out of 129 may be considered insignificant by some but in this instance I would disagree.

Infact, I would say some of the strongest characters in the parliament are the Tommy Sheridans, the Margo MacDonalds, the Robin Harpers, the Jean Turners and the John Swinburnes. Not to mention Denis Canavan who I think all people from across the political spectrum have a special regard for.

If people choose to stay at home and not vote because they are fed up of the political parties, then they should quite frankly be ashamed of themselves. Really, I mean it. If there were 4 names on the ballot list, then fair enough, but I am always amazed at the number of names I can choose from on polling day and always more than a little annoyed that I hadn't heard of some of these people whatsoever during the campaign. Personally I blame the media but the public must take some of the blame for not fully seeking out who could best represent them in the debating chamber and for not having the guts to vote for someone they are impressed with but may well end up being a haven for wasted votes.

So this is me doing my bit for Duncan Thorp. I reckon he has a tough, tough task on his hands. Not that losing out this year would necessarily mean his campaign hadn't been a success of course. But he has the four main political parties to contend with locally, not to mention a genuine national 2-horse race which might suck wavering votes into its vortex, a fellow independent in the bellicose Margo McDonald and a Green party which is particularly strong in this neck of the global warming threatened woods. I would say Lothian is the hardest region to get elected in as an independent.

But in his favour, Duncan is a true independent and therefore a true free-thinking voice in the parliament. I don't think any of the other 128 MSPs come May 4th would be able to say the same. (Yes, note the subtly optimistic use of numbers there)

Tommy and Margo have very large chips on their shoulders, the Robin Harpers et al are forced to give opinions with a green bent to them, Jean Turner (if she gets back in) is somewhat confined to health issues for obvious reasons and similarly John Swinburne is representing a very specific and decidedly wrinkly slice of the Scottish population. Duncan would be able to give unshackled opinions on education, health, crime, arts, not to mention comments on reserved matters which seems to have many an MSP dazzled in a journalist's headlights. With a mandate from Lothian residents, he would be in a completely flexible and consequently relatively powerful position.


Duncan does have a policy page on his website, it is understandably broad and gives more of his outlook on certain areas rather than an idea about specific policies. For me, this is the ideal pitch, even the main parties' policies should be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, things change and the term of a parliament is more about a politician's integrity and personality regarding how he or she will deal with a sudden issue rather than what was written on an election leaflet some 2 or 3 years ago. For that reason, a healthy dose of true independents to keep the MSPs' integrity in check would do wonders for Holyrood.

And aside from holyrood and politics, on a more human level, after the election is over would you not feel just that little bit fuzzier, taller and prouder of your voting decisions when you saw Duncan Thorp on TV discussing the government's actions than you would have felt having seen Ian McKee, George Foulkes, Simon Clark or Gavin Brown standing in the same position.

If you are confused, they are the names of regional candidates likely to be voted in on the Lothian list vote on May 2007, potentially at the expense of Duncan Thorp.


So if you are not standing for parliament yourself and you are not impressed with any of the main political parties, you have to really ask yourself why you are not voting for Duncan Thorp.