A "what if" on localisation of politics and an "Edinburgh Party"...The Irresistible Rise Of The Edinburgh Party
REPORT: KEVIN WILLIAMSON
The recent emergence of The Edinburgh Party has made the established political parties sit up and take notice. Thus far The Edinburgh Party has steered clear of elections but observers have noted a change of direction from the influential network of community activists based in the Scottish capital. News has filtered out that The Edinburgh Party have targeted the forthcoming local authority elections and the stage look sets for a serious challenge to the political establishment.
When The Edinburgh Party was formed a few years ago, famously in the backroom of a seaside Portobello pub, few of those present knew what they were getting into. The gathering was dominated by local issues, most notably resistance to yet another supermarket development earmarked for the area. The political scene nationally, however, was far removed from their concerns, dominated as it was by the eternal battle over the country’s constitutional future.
Local authorities are a whole different ball game. In councils across the country idealism and ideology have long since disintegrated into be-suited managerialism. Elected representatives are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Everyone is lining their own pockets, legally or illegally, bar the naive oddballs who make up the numbers. Naturally the public feel increasingly unhappy and short-changed by their local councillors.
The Edinburgh Party was formed in response to this widespread discontent. Its founders were an intriguing alliance of community activists, leftists disillusioned with nanny state socialism, plus conservative rebels who took to heart the London government’s empty rhetoric about ‘Big Society’. All pledged their allegiance to localism.
Quickly, far too quickly some said, there was talk of putting Edinburgh Party candidates up against the old guard. “A new epoch in party politics has arrived” said grizzled survivors of the old left. Some jumped up and down enthusiastically with the delusional energy that often pervades the start of a new political project. The non-glaikit majority said little, raised their eyebrows, looked at one another, and set to work.
The inaugural meeting at Portobello High School was a stormy affair by all accounts. The Edinburgh Party was eventually declared a non-electoral movement whose stated objective was to be an independent network of self-sacrificing volunteers unmotivated by salaried position. Localism was the guiding philosophy. It was agreed – by a sizeable majority – that membership of the new party was to be severely restricted.
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The following bit raised a wee smile: "it should come as no surprise that the West Edinburgh Question has been re-invoked. “Why should politicians elected in Cramond or Barnton be allowed any say on decisions that only effect Leith or Portobello?”
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