I nearly lost my longstanding overflowing respect and admiration for Robin Harper, the Green Lothians MSP, and it was all to do with some red mullet.At the Farmers Market in Edinburgh a few months ago, Robin cut across me in the queue and given there were only two plump fish left in the red mullet box, I was feeling rather perplexed. As the fishmonger asked Robin what he would like, the scarf-loving MSP somehow sensed my presence and turned to allow me my rightful spot as next to buy some fishy flesh, his courtesy ensuring that the rest of my day would not be unfairly pushed back by 2 minutes and also, more crucially, that my esteem for the man could continue unblemished.
Robin Harper is seen as a very good egg indeed not just by myself, he was no doubt the main reason the Green party returned a highly impressive 2 MSPs in the Lothians alone in 2003 and he is now the Green candidate for the Edinburgh East constituency at next year's General Election.
The battle in Edinburgh East had hitherto been seen as a straight fight between the SNP's Geroge Kerevan and Labour's Sheila Gilmore. The former no doubt buoyed by his party's showing in the European election results and the latter's campaign spearheaded (unless I'm mistaken) by the ever-impressive Kezia Dugdale.
The Greens however will seek to build on their own impressive European election showing when they finished 3rd in Edinburgh East, closer to Labour's 2nd than they were to the Tory's 4th (or the Lib Dem's 5th).
I was going to attempt an analysis on who Robin Harper's candidacy would hurt more, the SNP or Labour but sadly I won't have the time due to a recession to fight and a truncated lunch break. My suspicion however is that it would be the SNP.
Mind you, given the Edinburgh-wide popularity of the 'colourful' Robin Harper and the clear strong support for the Greens in Edinburgh East, there is perhaps nothing fishy in suggesting that Robin Harper is not standing just to take the bronze medal, or even silver for that matter.
Scotland's first Green MP? I can imagine a lot of people being proud of having voted to ensure that record takes place...
Note: Kate Joester will contest Edinburgh North & Leith, Steve Burgess Edinburgh South and Clare Cooney Edinburgh South West.
10 comments:
If you're going to join the Greens, Jeff, I'd rather you just did it quickly rather than stringing it out like this.
The next Doctor Who maybe..?
Apologies Anon, I momentarily forgot that all SNP candidates were delicately placed on earth from high heaven and all other candidates are the spawn of the devil.
Put another way, get a grip.
My opinion is that the Greens tend to do well in more leftish middle class areas, more a chance of them harming the LD than the SNP.
You'd be welcome anytime if you wanted to join the Greens. And to come to your own conclusions either way.
Then again Jeff, the Greens are a pro-Independence party...
Personally speaking I like the Greens even Chris Ballance!
Looking at the nature of the seat I`d tend to think that the most damage done will be to the Lib Dems. LDs had a good showing in EE in 2005 but have evaporated since. Also the coverage will be to the detriment of Labour - Robin Harper, George Kerevan and Shelia Gilmore...who do you think the press corp will cover? I think they'll cover the colourful politico and one of their own.
In truth Robin doesn't stand a chance but I suspect he's more than aware of that.
The Green aim here is definatley long term. Its to their credit that they have had a very sensible eletoral strategy since 1999.
Compare them with the SSP. The SSP stood in most all (if not all) seats and lost deposits galore as they rocked in shock that the masses hadn`t swung behind them.
The Greens, by contrast, initially only stood on the list...assessed where they were doing well...stood a few candidates in their best areas in 2005...and built the base. Here and their now have cemented that position with councillors etc. They are now the textbook example of how a small party should organise for national elections.
My own theory on Robin standing for Westminster is that this is his retirment plan - one last push for the party.
Stand in EE...raise the profile and the vote...stand down from the Scottish Parliament in the run into the election to show he's 'serious' about his prospects...and allow the next Green on the Lothians list a year to raise their profile as an MSP as they run into the 2011 election hunting for an improved performance and 2 MSPs on the list.
Jeff I'll bet you a fiver that Mark Ballard will be an MSP within 12 months.
I might have taken that bet Anseo if you hadn't spelled out why it would have been so splendidly stupid to do so ;-)
Bugger...I`ll put that down as an opportunity cost.
http://xexonu.1gb.bg http://planeta.rambler.ru/users/sexmeleox/ http://pukamu.rbcmail.ru
групповой секс расказы
http://hugufico.freehostia.com http://musaqi.yoyohost.com http://sexinoff.x10hosting.com/superblog
альчики геи порно
vrotmnenogi
Post a Comment