A Gordon For Me...

After a week of keeping things under wraps, in finest Gerry McNee fashion, I can now exclusively reveal that I've been selected as the SNP Westminster candidate for Gordon. Of course, Gordon just happens to be the seat held at Holyrood by a certain Alex Salmond. So no pressure, then :-)

Needless to say, I'm delighted. Although I was born in Edinburgh, my family on my mother's side are all from Aberdeenshire, and my grandparents still farm near Strichen. Although that's a wee bit further up, there's still a nice sense of symmetry in a member of the family heading back north, which runs against the grain of recent years.


I was in Inverurie on Friday night for a double celebration - the opening of Alex Salmond's new constituency office, and my formal unveiling as the SNP candidate. We managed to fill the local Catholic Church Hall, and in a display of political ecumenicalism, the hall was packed with well-wishers, of all parties and none and from all parts of the constituency. It was made all the more vibrant and successful by the large number of under-20s who made it along too, although the presence of the superb local band 'Rock and Reel' may have been a contributory factor there :-)

Anyway, it's back to London this week to sort out some affairs, and for the Comprehensive Spending Review and Pre Budget Report, both brought forward for the election that is now not to be. After stoking expectation of an election, Brown and his representatives on earth have left themselves looking utterly ridiculous, handing in the process the Conservatives in England a credibility which they probably didn't deserve. After all, if your reason for contemplating an election is because you think you'll win, there's only one possible conclusion to draw when you then pull back from the brink.

Once again, it seems that where our Prime Minister is concerned, his indecision is final. Anyway, whichever comes first - Brown regaining his bottle or his running out of time in office, on the strength of this weekend's efforts, I know our team in Gordon will be up for it.

(Pic by Andrew Mckay)

SNP & Labour 'Neck And Neck' For Westminster

Thanks to a tip off from a commenter on another post (Cheers, Tom), I've been alerted to the Scottish sample of a Channel 4/YouGov poll which makes for very interesting reading. Usual disclaimers apply re sample sizes, but with the Scottish sample putting Labour on 38%, the Tories on 14%, the Lib Dems on just 9% and the 'others' (it's a UK poll...) on 39%, it can't fail to furrow Brown's brow as he contemplates an election this weekend.

The UK figures don't make much better reading, with Labour on 40, the Tories on 36 and the Lib Dems on 13. Meanwhile, another poll for The Times has Labour on 39 - down 2; The Tories on 36 per cent - up five; and the Lib Dems on 15 per cent- down two.

Fair do's, as dougthedug points out straight after, Scotland might not be crucial to Brown's calculations. But taken with a swing back to the Tories in England over the conference season and seemingly unstoppable momentum building for an election, it looks like the best Brown can hope for is to scrape home on a reduced majority. Ah, well - you reap what you sow :-)

The Stocks Were Sold, The Press Was Squared...

Pizza ordered, wine poured, bag packed, speech written, last minute invite to go clubbing accepted (perhaps unwisely) - only problem now is making sure I still catch my train north tomorrow morning, which is stage one in my journey to get to a location, which must remain undisclosed, in plenty of time for Sunday afternoon. Don't miss the next exciting episode of 'Richard tries to get selected as an SNP candidate'... :-)

There's Nothing Like Being Organised...

Another day, another change in plan. The selection meeting for the next seat I'm in for has been postponed for a week, which means that I'm reverting to plan 'A' and am now on the train back to London using the ticket I'd bought earlier. It means returning again next week, of course, but frankly, the thought of living out of a suitcase as a 'guest' in Edinburgh for another week and a half when there's work to be done elsewhere didn't really appeal.

I have to admit, that thought came as a bit of a jolt to someone who considers himself to be an unreconstructed Edinburgher. London doesn't feel like home yet, and if I'm being honest it probably never really will. That said, while staying with my folks' and at friends' houses is all well and good, if you're like me, you still need to get back to somewhere that's 'yours' eventually. It's not so much that you no longer belong, but the feeling of being itinerant in a place where only a short while before you'd been fixed, is a strange one.

All this introspection is fine, but I'm going to try and balance it now with some blatant self-promotion. Iain Dale is in the process of publishing the GUIDE TO POLITICAL BLOGGING 2007, and as a trailer, is announcing various lists of what he and others consider to be the top blogs in their respective categories. In so doing, your gast will no doubt be flabbered to learn that the efforts of yours truly have made it to spot number 5 in the list of the top 20 Scottish Blogs.

All right, there wasn't a popular vote or anything, and the fact that they were chosen by Grant Thoms (who modestly left his own efforts out) means that they should more accurately be termed the 'Top 20 Scottish Blogs which didn't fall into any other category and aren't written by Grant Thoms'. Still, it appeals to my rampant sense of egomania in spite of that, and thanks go to Grant for inclusion. Just so long as he doesn't expect me to return the favour by attending any fringe meetings in Aviemore about windmills ;-)

"And Tonight, Matthew, I'm Going To Be Badly Overdrawn Boy"

In Edinburgh this week as the hunt for a seat continues, which means that my train ticket to travel back south on Wednesday is now surplus to requirements. I estimate that with cancelled flights and unused train tickets etc, I've spent the best part of £500 this month on journeys which I haven't been able to take.

Then there's the postage for writing to SNP members, the phone calls, the hotel rooms and the travelling I have actually undertaken. Oh, and I've also got a big upcoming repair to pay for on my flat in Portobello, and the car needs its first service. My credit card bills are going to be horrific this month - not so much a credit crunch as a payment crunch for me when the bills come in.

Anyway, I've got a meeting tonight with some SNP folk in Edinburgh, then having spent last night on a friend's couch, it'll be back to my folks' place for a couple of nights. It was always my intention to be a Westminster candidate for the SNP this time round, but with the accelerated selection process now underway, it's beginning to look as if my move to London has been very badly timed indeed - I think I've spent more time out in Edinburgh these last 3 months than I did when I lived here!