A Wild Rover
“ The real guardians of progress are not the politicians
at Westminster, or even at Holyrood but the energised activism
of tens of thousands of people, who I predict will refuse
meekly to go back into the political shadow”
ALEX SALMOND, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 19
The Scottish National Party 2006 – 2014
I returned home to Scotland, from Finland on 6 December 2005 (Finnish Independence Day). I had spent a rewarding, successful and memorable 40 years in a country fast becoming an economic and cultural leader in the Nordic Union and European Union. Urho Kalevi Kekkonen, the former president of the Republic is often quoted as saying:
“Our only natural resource is our forests, let’s take care of our green gold” He might have added and the skills of our highly educated, motivated and industrious people.
On returning to Scotland and thanks to my son Arran, I moved into a modern comfortable flat in Edinburgh’s prosperous residential area: Morningside. After working and travelling, worldwide, with my own consultancy: Scott Moffat Consulting International, and several major Finnish enterprises (Maa ja Vesi Oy, Vesi_Pekka Oy, OMP Oy, HAKA Oy, Ylikiiminki District Council and Joensuu Regional Development Company), I quickly realised and even quicker accepted that I was not ready for retirement. I needed a new challenge to occupy my hyperactive personality. I joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1991, when my son Arran and I moved to Scotland, after the tragic death of Marjatta my Finnish wife. In 2006 I had no hesitancy, maybe I should have had, in contacting the Merchiston & Morningside Branch. I was immediately signed up as a potential activist and member of Edinburgh South SNP, the local Constituency association. Being new to Scottish and indeed United Kingdom politics, I had much to learn about managing monthly meetings and campaigning for European, Westminster, Holyrood and Edinburgh City Council elections. Thanks to the help, advice and support of the SNP Branch convener Denis Robertson and Constituency convener Andy Rosie and the wider “political family”, I took to my new role like a duck to water. It’s fair to say with no exaggeration, that I learned most of my new political skills, while in Edinburgh South SNP. I lived in Morningside Drive from 2006 – 2010 enjoying the areas outdoor walks on Arthur’s Seat, the Pentlands, Braid Hills, Colington Glen and the Water of Leith walkway.
My sheltered housing landlord: Viewpoint Housing Association Ltd, the largest in the Lothians and Fife, accepted my nomination and appointment as a Tenants Representative. This provided an opportunity to serve many retired, elderly Viewpoint residents, from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. I must confess, that many of them like me, had lived interesting lives abroad, managing their own businesses; a few could not tell me what they did (John LeCarre’s novels spring to mind!!!). It was easy for me, with my Finnish/Russian connections, a radio aerial wired flat to tease my retired neighbours and lead them up the garden path, with my stories of regular business visits to St Petersburg and Moscow. My special relationship with the British Embassy in Helsinki and London Banks helped to advance my status.
When Viewpoint offered me a larger flat in Edinburgh’s New Town, I accepted without hesitation. It’s on the top floor of a New Town terrace, built in 1835, overlooking Telford’s majestic Dean Bridge over the Water of Leith and exclusive private Dean Gardens. I relocated from Morningside to the New Town in early March 2010. Since the Westminster General Election was scheduled for May, I remained a member of the SNP Merchiston & Morningside Branch and actively campaigned for Sandy Houston, our Edinburgh South candidate. The spring and early summer flew past. Unfortunately we were well beaten by Labour’s rising star Alistair Darling. I learned a great deal from my first political campaign: selection process, party hustings, leafletting, canvassing, street stalls. Most importantly meeting the general public, chatting to them and persuading them to support the Scottish National Party’s policy and mandate was a favourite activity and speciality of mine.
After losing the Westminster election, the disappointment in the Edinburgh South Constituency was understandable and recriminations were flying around. Also the Boundary Commission was planning a reorganisation of local authority boundaries. Since the Merchison & Morningside SNP Branch was about to be wound up, it was a convenient time for me to diplomatically and quietly move to a new Branch. I applied for and was accepted as a new member of the Edinburgh City Centre SNP Constituency Branch.
I remember my first Edinburgh Branch meeting in November 2010, as if it was only yesterday. I had to make a brief presentation to the Branch convener Dennis Dixon and the recently nominated Holyrood candidate Marco Biagi. I sat for 15 minutes, while they had an argie bargie about the fast approaching Holyrood election in 2011. They both totally ignored me and carried on, as if I was not in the room. I thought maybe I should excuse myself, telling them my offer to join their Branch was a mistake, and return to the new Edinburgh South SNP Branch. I was just about to stand up, when Marco Biagi said to Dennis Dixon, the Branch/CA convener:….. “I can’t work with you and don’t want you anywhere in my campaign”….
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