Crackerjack Part V: The Final Insult?

Rumours abound of shenanigans in Glasgow Govan, with Gordon Jackson apparently on the verge of being dumped in favour of Anas Sarwar, son of Mohammed Sarwar MP, and currently Number 1 on Labour's Regional List in the City. This will trigger a bid for the Constituency from Muhammad Shoaib (who has also announced a plan to stand on the List and for the Council) as an Independent.

Firstly, Labour have a strict 'no dual candidacies' policy (or at least, they do now - they waived this rule in 2003), and like to slate other parties for letting Constituency candidates go forward for Regional ranking, so it will be interesting to see if Sarwar vacates his position at the head of the List. If not, expect cries of 'hypocrisy' (I know I'll be making them), especially if he fails to win Govan but gets in on the List.

Secondly, what of poor Gordon? All the way back in July, I said that the Labour Scottish Executive were threatening to de-select him until he threatened to resign the seat immediately, triggering a By-Election. Labour have decided to move at the only possible time: too late for him to do this (if he quit now, the seat would lie empty until Parliament dissolves) but with a few weeks to get Sarwar established, rather than scout around for a candidate in April. Gordon's bluff has been called.

However, Labour are now in a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't' situation. Jackson's reputation as a part-time MSP has clearly (and, by extension, Labour) cost him dear, and keeping him makes things easier for SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon. Sarwar replacing Jackson could trigger a Shoaib candidacy which would split the Labour vote, just as the SSP probably stopped Sturgeon from winning the seat in 2003, simply by fielding a candidate (an action that they aren't necessarily going to repeat this time around).

But in short, to keep his candidacy, and keep the seat, Gordon Jackson needs several miracles. I'll miss these occasional Crackerjack posts...

Crackerjack Part IV

Well, Gordon Jackson has once again promised to give up his legal work, having agreed to stop practising law by the end of next month, after a meeting of the Labour Party's Scottish Executive which had threatened to de-select him. In fact, he might well have ended up dropped had he not threatened to resign as an MSP immediately and trigger a By-Election which Labour would be in danger of losing.

This isn't the end of the story, though: the Party is breathing down his neck and will drop him if he breaks his promise again. And insiders are forecasting that that's exactly what will happen.

Crackerjack Part III

Before readers start accusing me of having it in for Gordon Jackson, let me say that really I don't have any reason to like or loathe him (I've never even met him), but he seems to provide plenty of fodder for dirt-diggers and shite-stirrers like your humble Blogger.

Anyway, it turns out that the Labour hierarchy is somewhat peeved at Jackson's decision to represent Nat Fraser, and his shoddy Committee attendance record (he's missed 18 out of 39), and de-selection might loom. Unfortunately, Labour are worried that it might not be so easy to get rid of him, as his deselection might prompt him to resign his seat and force a By-Election, which would see him out of the Parliament (which Labour want), but would also risk the seat being lost to the SNP just months before the 2007 Elections (which Labour don't want).

Why do I get the feeling that there'll be a post on here entitled 'Crackerjack Part IV' very soon?

Crackerjack II

All the way back before Christmas, I informed both of my readers of Gordon Jackson's plans to wind up his work as a practising advocate in the summer to concentrate on his constituents, the good people of Govan. However, Jackson has performed another U-turn (I did see this coming as well), and has lodged and appeal on behalf of Nat Fraser, who was convicted of murdering his wife Arlene. The case will be heard in September.

Of course, this might actually be a smart move by Jackson: a Labour internal poll forecasts a 5% swing from the party to the SNP on the constituency vote, which would be enough to see Nicola Sturgeon win Govan. It'll also see Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Kilmarnock and Loudoun, the Western Isles, Linlithgow, Aberdeen Central, Dundee West, Paisley South and West Renfrewshire in SNP hands.

Crackerjack

Gordon "Crackerjack" Jackson QC MSP (Lab, Glasgow Govan) has announced that he's going to stop practising law so that he can concentrate on passing it in the Scottish Parliament.

This is where I would, ordinarily, heap praise on someone for realising that the Scottish Parliament needs to be taken seriously by its members if it's ever going to be taken seriously by the people. Unfortunately, Jackson does not deserve that praise. Even if he does carry out his pledge to quit as a lawyer, the people of Govan will have to wait until the Summer to get a full-time Constituency MSP (although, he does have to finish the work he started, to be fair to him).

However, I have serious doubts about how seriously we can take this announcement: he made it before in 2001. And it comes following reports that he was in danger of being de-selected for the 2007 Elections, and after an exchange of letters with Margaret Curran.

In any case, Jackson (or Labour's replacement candidate) will almost certainly have to face a challenge from SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon. And I would lay very short odds on Sturgeon winning the seat.