 | 'I will not lead a party riven by a rabble of narrow sects, determined to impose their views on the majority, no matter the cost. That is not democracy. It is more like a soap opera.' Michael Russell, 28 th June 2004. |  |
| 'I will not lead a party riven by a rabble of narrow sects, determined to impose their views on the majority, no matter the cost. That is not democracy. It is more like a soap opera.' Michael Russell, 28 th June 2004. | |
Michael Russell yesterday launched his campaign to prove that he is not yesterday's man and that a contender from outside the Scottish Parliament could realistically lead the SNP.
Mr Russell joined Roseanna Cunningham and Nicola Sturgeon, who threw their hats into the ring last week following the resignation of John Swinney.
It was a Russell performance from the old bravura days Ð high on style, rhetoric and clever turns of phrase, but also masking questions about practicality, popularity and personal fragility.
The contender responded to these questions, saying: "Somebody said I didn't need a nomination form. I needed a psychiatrist. I have decided to seek a nomination form."
These forms were collected yesterday and friends who gathered in a hotel in Edinburgh began signing them, led by Anne Dana, the former national executive member who introduced him "not just because of his ability to lead, but because it would make for a wide-ranging debate on the future of Scotland".
Mr Russell said that, after 30 years in the party he believed he could do the job, adding that his time outside parliament in the past 14 months, listening to people outside the Holyrood village, had been "a salutary, not to say a chastening experience".
"This is a time for plain speaking, so let me be blunt. Right now we are not a government in waiting.
We are a party that has temporarily lost its way," he said, calling for "an end to noisy, disabling dissent and the politics of personality rather than policy".
He added: "I will not lead a party riven by a rabble of narrow sects, determined to impose their views on the majority, no matter the cost. That is not democracy. It is more like a soap opera."
Asked if his comment that the "men in grey kilts" should tell John Swinney it was time to go was a prime example of "disabling dissent", he said he had voted twice for Mr Swinney as leader and was not going to get into a slanging match now.
He suggested a string of things he was in favour of: using the parliament as a road to independence; for welcoming new citizens and tapping international goodwill; for political reform that gives the people a greater say and brings them back to politics.
However, the bigger questions were not really answered. He insisted a non-MSP could lead the party, but admitted he would seek to return to parliament at the first opportunity. He accepted that the constitution would make the successful deputy convener the parliamentary leader Ð ruling out the top talents contesting the leadership. He accepted he had no idea where a salary for him to live on would come from, since he would not be an MSP and the party was broke.
"It is more difficult for me. Of that there is not doubt. I have had a number of friends who said I should wait to get back into parliament and the see what happens," he said, but he believed he had to go for the leadership to make his case to ordinary members.
Back-bencher Alex Neil is also expected to announce his intention to stand for the leadership in the next few days.
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