As the cousins celebrate the most genial holiday of them all, there are many things one for which one should be thankful. Not having a vote in the leadership contest currently gripping the Scottish Labour party comes pretty near the top of the list. Nevertheless and unlike Ed Miliband I can at least name each of the three candidates for this miserable prize. And like Kate Higgins, were I burdened with a vote in this contest, I should vote for Tom Harris.
Granted, he will have to find himself a seat at Holyrood at some point but that’s a technical detail which need not concern the rest of us. Granted too, I suspect he needs more than an anti-Salmond agenda to really prosper. As the Burd says, Mr Harris is a Blairite and the fact that this is, as she says, “almost a swear word in Scottish political circles” is evidence enough of much of what has been wrong with the Labour party in Scotland. As he says, Labour didn’t just lose in May it deserved to lose. That’s a good start and the kind of frankness you don’t often see from Scottish Labourites.
I cannot quite see how Mr Harris, happy fighter though he be, can actually win this contest but I wish him every good fortune. Then again, these endorsements may not help him much. Tom Harris, the candidate sensible people who will never support Labour would vote for. That’s a winning slogan!
Here’s his first campaign video:
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