A pro-independence blog by James Kelly - voted one of Scotland's top 10 political websites.
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Westminster in crisis tonight as new Norstat poll shows support for independence has risen to around 50%
Friday, January 26, 2024
Sensation as new Find Out Now poll shows clear majority of Scottish public want independence
Thursday, January 25, 2024
A reminder that you can vote James Kelly #1 for Alba's committees and Constitutional Review Group on Saturday at the party's National Council
So it's creeping up now - on Saturday, the Alba Party's next National Council will be taking place in Edinburgh, and among other things it will be electing members of four committees (Finance, Disciplinary, Appeals and Conferences) plus one special Constitutional Review Group. I've put myself forward as a candidate for all five bodies, and yesterday I completed all the formalities, so I'll definitely be on the ballot form. If you're a National Council delegate, I'd be grateful if you'd consider me for your votes - and remember it's a preferential voting system, so if you decide to give someone else your first preference vote, there's still the option of giving me your second, third or other lower preference vote, and I'd be equally grateful for that. And although only delegates can vote, there's nothing to stop rank-and-file members contacting their own LACU's delegates and expressing their views - the party belongs to the members, after all.
And that latter point is one of the reasons I'm so keen to be on the Constitutional Review Group. The existence of that group will open up the possibility of future NEC elections being conducted by one member, one vote - something I will strongly support. But I think that's the minimum that should happen - I also think the other committees up for election on Saturday should in future be elected by the whole party membership. All members are subject to the party's disciplinary and appeals procedures, so there's an obvious stake for all members in being able to decide the composition of the Appeals and Disciplinary Committees. National conference is the supreme decision-making body of the party and is open to all members (albeit on a first come, first served basis), so again, a Conferences Committee determining how conference is run is one that should be accountable to, and thus elected by, all members.
It's important not to fall into the trap of thinking that Alba is already very slightly more democratic than the SNP and is therefore democratic enough. A new party should be aiming for something considerably more than a slight improvement on an older party with fossilised practices. Remember it's less than a quarter of a century since the SNP last held a leadership election in which only delegates could vote, which seems incredible in retrospect. Other internal election rules which survive in the SNP to the present day will seem outdated in due course, and actually Alba can help speed that process up by setting an example with an immaculate internal democracy.
There's also a practical reason why we need to outshine the SNP, though. Imagine you're an independence supporter thinking of joining a political party, and you have to choose between a large party that runs the Scottish Government, that has third party status at Westminster and is at 35% in the opinion polls, and a small opposition party that only has a handful of elected representatives and is at 2% in the polls. Why would you consider joining the smaller party? One reason you might be tempted is if you can see the smaller party is the far more democratic of the two and you can be confident your voice will count for something.
Although I've focussed on the constitutional reform issues in the above paragraphs, I'm standing across the board for the various committees and I'm very keen to serve in any capacity. I've been an elected member of the Appeals Committee for the last year, and before that I was on the Finance & Audit Committee in 2021-22 as an NEC nominee. If I'm elected to any of the committees you can be sure of my integrity, my unshakeable commitment to independence, my belief in fairness and transparency, and my impatience with any form of cliquishness.
A reminder also that after National Council is over on Saturday, the same venue will host a conference on the way forward for Yes, and that event will be open to both rank-and-file Alba members and the wider public.