The Stalking Horse?

The barely suppressed rumblings of the Scottish Labour party have begun spilling out after it emerged that both Andy Kerr and Wendy Alexander had been reported to the PF for failing to declare gifts valued over £520 on their register of interests. Others have poured over this topic long and weary so I`ll leave that debate alone for the moment.

What is clear is that with the pressure in the media growing, with a number of papers calling for Wendy to go for the sake of Scottish democracy(not to mention one of her senior deputies leaking the ‘Wendy is great’ lines to the sun), for Wendy it’s not a question of if but when. For Wendy to go now, before the Electoral Commission reports, would be viewed as an admission of liability in the subject of the investigation. But by hanging on she is having a seriously corrosive effect on her party. Because of this rumours have begun of a stalking horse being lined up to ask her to step outside to force her hand.

But who will said stalking horse be and to whose ultimate benefit?

Andy Kerr is in soapy bubble after being reported to the PF himself, surely ruling him out in the short term. Tom McCabe was Wendy’s campaign manager and his role in that debacle won`t be forgotten quickly, although its widely accepted that McCabe is seeking a role in London to be able to spend some time with his missus (which is fair enough). If Margaret Curran can get out of the Wendy debacle relatively unscathed she may be the early front runner and despite being anonymous for months Iain Gray would no doubt be considering his options. But none of these people are subject of a rather fun rumour doing the rounds over the weekend.

As I understand it…in order to force a challenge a candidate must have the backing of 6 MSPs (although Labour change these rules a lot so I may be in error here). All but 4 or 5 MSPs backed Wendy for the big job…and the campaign for socialism (CfS) has 4 or 5 MSp members these days, so it might be thought that the most likely area for a stalking horse to come from is there. Bill Butler or Elaine Smith spring to mind…but apparently it is not to be they who step forward.

Rather than the Hard Left option of the CfS its thought that the soft left ticket (and east of Scotland Labour inspired preference) may end up going forward so the rumour goes. Idea being that Malcolm Chisholm is the stalking horse candidate in order to force Wendy’s hand on ‘principles’. Ultimately Malcolm would stand aside (and be duly rewarded) by the actual candidate, one Cathy Jamieson.

After the elections Jamieson’s stock wasn`t high but after standing in as leader for FMQs for a few weeks she got a more favourable reception. Jamieson is also a former CfS member and generally speaking more progressive on social issues than Alexander who is closer to pure new Labour. Jamieson isn`t apparently angling for the job herself but is being touted by those in the background as a unity candidate.

What remains to be seen is if Wendy doesn`t go of her own free will then the back room operators will be stepping up a gear to possibly put the above rumour into action. Folk have been (and are being) sounded out about the possibility it seems. Although no deadline is in place for forcing Wendy’s hand it I`ve been told that the upcoming February recess will see a few clandestine meetings to determine a course of action.

Could the weekend’s rumours be correct and Cathy Jamieson installed as the new Labour leader by late April? Or perhaps Calum Cashley will get his wish and Helen Eadie will ride to the rescue!