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| Instead of strengthening Scottish politics, Alex Salmond plays the funny man | Instead of strengthening Scottish politics, Alex Salmond plays the funny man |
| (11 days later) | |
| Alex Salmond is one of the big beasts not just of Scottish, but British politics, and the defining figure of modern Scottish nationalism and the SNP. He has been leader of the SNP for a total of 20 years (between 1990-2000 and 2004-2014), first minister of Scotland for seven years, and in 2014 took the SNP closer than any of its opponents thought possible to the party’s ultimate goal of independence. | Alex Salmond is one of the big beasts not just of Scottish, but British politics, and the defining figure of modern Scottish nationalism and the SNP. He has been leader of the SNP for a total of 20 years (between 1990-2000 and 2004-2014), first minister of Scotland for seven years, and in 2014 took the SNP closer than any of its opponents thought possible to the party’s ultimate goal of independence. |
| Yet he now finds himself bereft of a major public role, after losing the referendum and standing down as first minister, and subsequently losing his Westminster Gordon seat to Tory Colin Clark. | Yet he now finds himself bereft of a major public role, after losing the referendum and standing down as first minister, and subsequently losing his Westminster Gordon seat to Tory Colin Clark. |
| He has now taken to the stage and is performing a sold-out show at Edinburgh Fringe – Alex Salmond Unleashed: A Festival of Fun, Friends and Freedom – to ecstatic audiences. It is mostly what anyone would expect of Salmond the performer: the usual mixture of charm, wit, cheeky chappie persona, digs at opponents, with a slight yearning for approval and applause. | He has now taken to the stage and is performing a sold-out show at Edinburgh Fringe – Alex Salmond Unleashed: A Festival of Fun, Friends and Freedom – to ecstatic audiences. It is mostly what anyone would expect of Salmond the performer: the usual mixture of charm, wit, cheeky chappie persona, digs at opponents, with a slight yearning for approval and applause. |
| This raises the big question: what is a prominent former leader or politician meant to do with his time and talents? Think of Tony Blair and his millions, David Cameron and his shepherd’s hut, or Ted Heath and his 30-year huff with Margaret Thatcher. | This raises the big question: what is a prominent former leader or politician meant to do with his time and talents? Think of Tony Blair and his millions, David Cameron and his shepherd’s hut, or Ted Heath and his 30-year huff with Margaret Thatcher. |
| There is no template for an ex-SNP leader. His options are limited. He cannot go to the House of Lords as the Scottish nationalists don’t recommend peerages. Doing a TV or radio show won’t take up enough of his time, and offers for corporate boards or international roles are likely to be scarce. | There is no template for an ex-SNP leader. His options are limited. He cannot go to the House of Lords as the Scottish nationalists don’t recommend peerages. Doing a TV or radio show won’t take up enough of his time, and offers for corporate boards or international roles are likely to be scarce. |
| There are examples of senior Scottish nationalists who have become thorns in the party leadership such as Gordon Wilson who was leader for 11 years until 1990, and former deputy leader Jim Sillars. Not exactly role models for the modern ex-leader. | There are examples of senior Scottish nationalists who have become thorns in the party leadership such as Gordon Wilson who was leader for 11 years until 1990, and former deputy leader Jim Sillars. Not exactly role models for the modern ex-leader. |
| Salmond has contributed enormously to the SNP’s rise and many successes, but since 2014 hasn’t exactly kept to script. He has railed against the BBC, Nick Robinson, and “the vow” for supposedly denying the nationalists victory in the independence referendum. He wrote a best-selling memoir, The Dream Shall Never Die, which was mostly short on self-reflection and continued this theme. | Salmond has contributed enormously to the SNP’s rise and many successes, but since 2014 hasn’t exactly kept to script. He has railed against the BBC, Nick Robinson, and “the vow” for supposedly denying the nationalists victory in the independence referendum. He wrote a best-selling memoir, The Dream Shall Never Die, which was mostly short on self-reflection and continued this theme. |
| He has increasingly become a problem for his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, who was his deputy leader for 10 years and deputy first minister for seven. This weekend, he prophesied that Scotland would become independent by 2021. This would involve an independence referendum being agreed, the vote held and won, and negotiations undertaken and concluded: all within the lifetime of the current Scottish and Westminster parliaments – if the latter even lasts its whole term. | He has increasingly become a problem for his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, who was his deputy leader for 10 years and deputy first minister for seven. This weekend, he prophesied that Scotland would become independent by 2021. This would involve an independence referendum being agreed, the vote held and won, and negotiations undertaken and concluded: all within the lifetime of the current Scottish and Westminster parliaments – if the latter even lasts its whole term. |
| That seems particularly improbable since Sturgeon has all but ruled out a vote in this Holyrood term. This means Scotland most likely won’t be free by 2021; rather, it is the earliest possible date another independence referendum could be held by. | That seems particularly improbable since Sturgeon has all but ruled out a vote in this Holyrood term. This means Scotland most likely won’t be free by 2021; rather, it is the earliest possible date another independence referendum could be held by. |
| This weekend he criticised his party’s treatment of former SNP MP Michelle Thomson, first elected in 2015, who had the party whip withdrawn months after becoming a MP. Her fate, according to Salmond, was down to a media witch hunt that “had her carted off, signed, sealed and convicted”. This ignores the fact that the moment allegations became public, the SNP leadership acted and withdrew the whip. | This weekend he criticised his party’s treatment of former SNP MP Michelle Thomson, first elected in 2015, who had the party whip withdrawn months after becoming a MP. Her fate, according to Salmond, was down to a media witch hunt that “had her carted off, signed, sealed and convicted”. This ignores the fact that the moment allegations became public, the SNP leadership acted and withdrew the whip. |
| His interventions carry added weight because of the nervous, unsure state of the SNP and independence movement in light of the 2017 election result. The party’s sense of itself in recent years – of the forward march of history, momentum and continual advance towards independence – has been brought into question. And the SNP’s decade in office means that it now has a record that it has to answer for. | His interventions carry added weight because of the nervous, unsure state of the SNP and independence movement in light of the 2017 election result. The party’s sense of itself in recent years – of the forward march of history, momentum and continual advance towards independence – has been brought into question. And the SNP’s decade in office means that it now has a record that it has to answer for. |
| Increasingly, it seems lost for an explanation of what the purpose of a SNP government is – other than to mitigate the worst excesses of Tory policies and cuts. That’s not a very edifying, uplifting message, rather a purely defensive one. | Increasingly, it seems lost for an explanation of what the purpose of a SNP government is – other than to mitigate the worst excesses of Tory policies and cuts. That’s not a very edifying, uplifting message, rather a purely defensive one. |
| Convincing, passionate SNP ideas on education, health, law and order or the economy are nowhere to be found. Nor does there seem to be any detailed work or drive on independence. The numerous disagreements of the independence movement over the summer have to be seen in this context – a political vacuum and environment in which political leadership or strategy are absent. | Convincing, passionate SNP ideas on education, health, law and order or the economy are nowhere to be found. Nor does there seem to be any detailed work or drive on independence. The numerous disagreements of the independence movement over the summer have to be seen in this context – a political vacuum and environment in which political leadership or strategy are absent. |
| Politics is part psychology, part momentum and part perception. The age of the invincible SNP and the inevitability of independence is over. The SNP and the independence movement may still achieve their ultimate goal; after all, these are rocky, unpredictable times, with British politics fraught with confusion and crisis, and Brexit posing an existential challenge to the very idea of the United Kingdom. But it will require a major reappraisal and rethinking from the SNP and others, and a very different independence offer: none which seems on the immediate horizon. | Politics is part psychology, part momentum and part perception. The age of the invincible SNP and the inevitability of independence is over. The SNP and the independence movement may still achieve their ultimate goal; after all, these are rocky, unpredictable times, with British politics fraught with confusion and crisis, and Brexit posing an existential challenge to the very idea of the United Kingdom. But it will require a major reappraisal and rethinking from the SNP and others, and a very different independence offer: none which seems on the immediate horizon. |
| Surely there has to be a nobler expression of nationalist politics than Alex Salmond turning peak Nat into pique Nat? And aren’t there better uses of the talents of this undoubted political giant for the SNP, independence and for public life? | Surely there has to be a nobler expression of nationalist politics than Alex Salmond turning peak Nat into pique Nat? And aren’t there better uses of the talents of this undoubted political giant for the SNP, independence and for public life? |
| • Gerry Hassan is author of Scotland the Bold and co-editor of A Nation Changed? The SNP and Scotland Ten Years On | • Gerry Hassan is author of Scotland the Bold and co-editor of A Nation Changed? The SNP and Scotland Ten Years On |
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