 | 'Mr McLeish was believed to have favoured Mr Martin as Mr Galbraith's successor.
If Mr Martin had succeeded he would have been seen immediately as ministerial material and possible as a successor to Mr McLeish as first minister.' |  |
| 'Mr McLeish was believed to have favoured Mr Martin as Mr Galbraith's successor.
If Mr Martin had succeeded he would have been seen immediately as ministerial material and possible as a successor to Mr McLeish as first minister.' | |
An advocate and former adviser to the late Donald Dewar, Mr Fitzpatrick pipped three people who made it on to a shortlist of possible candidates to contest the Scottish parliamentary seat. He beat Nicky Wilson, the NUM official, by just two votes.
The by-election is expected to be announced for May 3, the same day as the possible general election.
The vote was taken among Labour party members at a meeting in the constituency last night.
The field of hopefuls was whittled down to three after the forced withdrawal of David Martin, Scotland's longest-serving MEP, whose attempt to switch from Brussels to the Scottish Parliament was vetoed by Labour in London.
Mr Martin, who has been a Euro-MP for 17 years, 12 of them as a vice president of the European Parliament, was told he should have had permission of Labour's national executive before throwing his hat into the ring for Scotland's safest Labour seat. He did not ask for permission because he believed by-election rules did not require him to do so.
After being rebuffed he issued a diplomatically worded statement saying he had "withdrawn" after consulting his family. Party sources said he had fallen victim to internal rivalries between followers of the chancellor, Gordon Brown, and others.
Mr Martin's failure left the way open for Mr Fitzpatrick, Mr Wilson, and Lesley Sutherland, a trade union official.
Mr Fitzpatrick was widely seen as the favoured candidate of Mr Brown. His contract with the Scottish Executive was not renewed when Henry McLeish became first minister. Mr McLeish was believed to have favoured Mr Martin as Mr Galbraith's successor.
If Mr Martin had succeeded he would have been seen immediately as ministerial material and possible as a successor to Mr McLeish as first minister.
Mr Galbraith, 55, was Scottish environment minister until last Tuesday when he announced he was stepping down to protect his health. He had represented Strathkelvin and Bearsden since 1987, when he won in it from the Conservatives.
As the local constituency party gathered to select his successor, Labour's rivals poured scorn on the exclusion of Mr Martin.
Malcolm Bruce, president of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said the Labour NEC's refusal to allow Mr Martin to stand showed the party had not learned any lessons from interfering in selection procedures.
The SNP mocked "London Labour's" role in the affair.
-March 28th
Return to home page