Letters / ‘Put off by a party that tells me who I shouldn’t vote for’
No apologies for still banging the drum and supporting the ever-growing tide of support for Hannah Mary Goodlad. I repeat, support for HMG not SNP.
I was brought up in a Liberal (Lib Dem) supporting family, delivering campaign leaflets as a schoolboy and proudly supporting my father as a Liberal councillor in the south of England. I looked on with admiration and awe as the very last General Election result to be announced was always Shetland with Jo Grimond continuing to fly the flag for the underdogs.
Who doesn’t like a good underdog story? Does anyone remember Eric Lubbock’s famous by-election victory in Orpington in 1962? It signalled a boom period for the Liberals with hope of a real breakthrough – that is until they shot themselves in the foot with the Jeremy Thorpe scandal.
Fast forward to 2010 when, with 57 Westminster seats, the leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, was invited to enter a coalition with the Conservatives.
With the prospect of a senior position (Deputy PM) waved in front of him, Nick Clegg all too quickly abandoned key campaign pledges for self-aggrandisement, resulting in a steep fall in support and the loss of 49 seats at the 2015 election. Shot themselves in both feet that time!
Nevertheless, I continued to support the Lib Dems (with the unique exception of the 2011 Holyrood election), until this year.
The purpose of that lengthy preamble is to highlight the significance of my change of support. I will not be voting for our Lib Dem candidate – a decision not taken lightly.
As a nation, we have become disenchanted by the selfish, self-centred, arrogant and entitled behaviour of so many politicians on both sides of the border. The quality of our political representatives has diminished year on year.
The quality of debate, the ability or willingness to engage with questions and, worst of all, the notion that truth and transparency are of paramount importance have all been marginalised by career politicians who have little or no experience of everyday life. How often have we heard the phrase, ‘There’s none of them worth voting for?’ A fact borne out by low turnouts at the polls.
Now, at last, in a relatively small constituency in the far north we have discovered that rare species – a candidate, a homegrown candidate, who has taken this election campaign by storm.
Hannah Mary Goodlad has been acknowledged on every front as being an exceptional candidate. So, what’s the drawback then? Well, we all know the answer to that, don’t we? The SNP affiliation.
However, for me, and for an increasing number of voters of all persuasions, this is less significant than the fact that we have a golden chance to elect a candidate who can restore our faith in politicians.
She has the ability, charisma, organisation, experience and strength of character not only to be heard in Holyrood but to impose herself there to work on our behalf. She also has ideas and potential solutions to problems. Her approach is fresh and positive. We know what she will do rather than being told what other parties won’t do.
I’m in little doubt that the powers that be within the SNP recognise this as well and, far from HMG kowtowing to them, they will be keen to keep her onside, thus giving her (and us) some extra leverage.
So, what about my party allegiance? Like all governments, especially those who have served three terms, the SNP are not wholly good or bad. Certainly not as bad as some would have them painted or as good as they would portray themselves.
In my humble and largely irrelevant opinion, the SNP have not proved themselves sufficiently to win my vote. For that matter, I see little virtue in any of the other parties. The independence issue is largely irrelevant to me at this time since the worst scenario would be a request (or perhaps, in the case of the SNP, a demand) for a referendum.
In the apparently unlikely event of this being granted by Westminster, it would simply mean a democratic vote with each of us able to freely express our opinion at the ballot box with equal weight.
So, what to do? How fortunate we are to have a ready made answer. A vote for the most outstanding candidate on one ballot paper and a vote for the party of our choice on the other. There is no reason for the two to be aligned.
HMG has been up front in everything she has done and said to date. She doesn’t hide her allegiance or what that entails.
She does, however, say that Shetland is important to her and that it comes first and foremost. We have no reason at this time to doubt that. Her claim will be put to the test and evaluated in five years’ time. She has taken on the challenge of overturning decades of voting for ‘a nice person’, a party that … well, we’ve always voted for. Without wishing to seem unkind or demeaning – a lazy vote.
HMG has not jumped on any bandwagons, sought an easy ride or suddenly come out in the colours of a party in a safe seat. She could have followed the advice of some correspondents and ditched her party to stand as an independent. No, she has chosen to remain true to her colours and fight for her own patch. Integrity is a good starting point for any potential MSP.
Finally, returning to my roots, I have been so disappointed in the local Lib Dems’ negative campaign. Plenty of generalisations – of course they will put the hospital, transport, fishing, cost of living, housing etc. as campaign pledges – just like every other party.
However pledges, as we have seen over so many years of Lib Dem representation, do not translate into action. Not necessarily the fault of some of our previous well-meaning and hard working MSPs, but just the fact that you can scream on the margins of power and sometimes be heard but too often ignored.
The Lib Dems tell us in no uncertain terms and with no economy of literature space, why they think we shouldn’t vote for HMG, but they tell us very little of substance about any plans that they might have. I, for one, am totally put off by a party that tells me who I shouldn’t vote for. I call that arrogance.
We need Hannah Mary to stand up for her own people in Shetland, but more than that, we need her to begin to restore some degree of credibility to Holyrood. Given the chance, this could be the start of something big. We could be sitting on a real nugget.
Instead of putting our faith in fool’s gold, we should seize the opportunity to put our trust in the real deal. A vote for Hannah Mary Goodlad on the purple ballot paper as the best candidate – regardless of party, then let the partisans squabble over the party vote on the other ballot paper.
Mike Bennett
Sandsound
