The lost weekend
Saturday, 17 October 2009
I've been meaning to blog about the SNP conference and there is plenty to talk about.
There is the Scottish Futures Trust getting criticised again, Fiona Hyslop basically standing up and admitting she has failed, Alex Salmond saying that Scotland was never closer to independence and of course the new 'vote SNP just in case there is a hung parliament' strategy.
Sadly there will be no time for that today as I am just about to don the now infamous red jackets to campaign in Springburn for the by election.
I remember when the SNP talked about the lost weekend when we had the selection problems in Glasgow East.
It wasn't quite lost in that there was no campaigning done; I certainly remember knocking on doors that weekend!
But we didn't get that momentum that we needed to get our campaign moving and it wasn't until the final week that we were really in full swing despite a lot of work by a lot of people. I'm sure that if the campaign lasted another week we would have won but what is done is done.
And now we have a similar story with the SNP conference. In the first weekend of the campaign now the writ has been moved most activists are at the SNP conference in Inverness rather than on the doorsteps in Springburn.
Yesterday I rang up members of my University Labour Club that I chair to mobilise people (it wasn't hard) and I am off to meet a large group of students from universities across Scotland to go and campaign. There are similar efforts from all branches of the party as we get into the final month of the campaign.
There is going to be a mammoth effort this weekend as we deliver leaflets and knock on doors and it will all be a net gain as the SNP campaign grinds to a standstill for a weekend.
Now it may well be that I have got this wrong and many of the activists will shun conference and come to Springburn but at least from anecdotal evidence of those Nationalists I know (and there's a fair few) they all seem to be off to Inverness.
There will only be 3 weekends left after this one and their campaign hasn't exactly got off to a great start so far. Will there be enough time for them to recover?
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8 comments:
Have you not twigged that the only reason you have this advantage of an extra weekend is because you delayed the by-election for so long? If I was being extra cynical, I would even suggest it was a factor in the decision to hold it in Nov...
I would assume that strategists would be smart enough to tell activists to stay and campaign not that I'n complaining!
Love it.
"As luck would have it, SNP conference falls during the by-election campaign. Thank the celestial spirits of by-election date picking for having shined their favours upon Labour."
Can you help clarify an issue regarding Willie Bain to helpput an end to a debate on another site.
Does Willie Bain suffer from a speech impediment?
Alternatively, some people have said that he has picked up elements of a 'London' (Estuary English) dialect (presumably on the account of his time down south). For example he pronounces 'Constituency' with a glottal stop so it sounds like 'Consti'uency'.
Your input would be appreciated to put an end to this debate.
Many thanks
Ian
'John/Ian' I've simply published this post to show how pathetic such feeble attempted slanders are.
Don't bother try commenting here again.
Wardog, there can be a political earthquake in Glasgow East with a 13,000 majority but it's crazy for there to be one with a 10,000 majority.
Sounds like you know you are going downhill and are now spinning furiously...
Yousuf, what's your take on the alleged edict issued from the head Grand Master of the Orange Order to encourage folk in the Glasgow North East conti'uency to support labour. Seems most odd to me.
Is this not an own goal and will not help the cause. Are they not even savvy enough to appreciate the demographic profile of the people of Glasgow NE consti'uency? They have not helped your cause at all. The SNP and others will gain from this misguided spin adventure.
Best to keep the Orange Order out of it - whatever next 'directions' from Archbishop's, et al.
All the best.
John no one from Labour spoke to or sought the endorsement from the Orange Lodge and condemnation of marches used as vehicles to peddle bigotry are as strong now as they ever were.
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