Catherine Smith: Our work getting people into politics is vital

The next day he died – and the most extraordinary outpouring of grief followed. From all political parties; from all sectors of society. The country seemed to stand still for a day as the news emerged. I was only 21 years old and like anyone else’s personal bereavement, it was momentous and life changing. But even at that tender and inexperienced age I could see that this was something out of the ordinary.

READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Kezia Dugdale is the latest smug opportunist to earn big money for doing nothing

On the day of his funeral thousands turned out in Edinburgh to stand outside the church; thousands more lined the streets across Scotland to pay respect to his remains as they travelled from Edinburgh to Oban, on his way to his final resting place on Iona.

What on earth was that all about? He was a politician! You know – those guys that have the worst ratings in public trust of just about anyone.

I think Donald Dewar put it best: the people felt they had lost a friend, someone who was on their side.

I grew up believing that the opportunity to represent others was the greatest privilege a person could hope for. And if you got it – treat it with the greatest care and respect. These values are little spoken of today – and our political system is the poorer for that.

As a family we gave a up a lot in pursuit of my father’s insistence on his public service. We want to ensure that all that sacrifice and hard work has a purpose beyond his untimely death – and that is why we set up the John Smith Centre for Public Service with the great support of Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli and everyone at the University of Glasgow.

This week we were thrilled to announce that Kezia Dugdale MSP had won through an exhaustive international search to become our first full-time director. She has so much to give.

Our proposition is that there is a crisis of trust in our politicians – and this is to everyone’s detriment.

Our mission is to encourage the broadest spectrum of people to consider entering politics – to view politics as an effective and powerful vehicle for change.

No-one else in the UK is looking at these issues specifically. Who can blame them – a research centre to encourage people to enter politics – are you mad?

But our work is, we believe, important. And urgent. The fact it is difficult does not deter us. Much of the discussion around the nature of our politics is currently conducted in soundbites - without real thought or depth – and it is not based on any insight or research. We are hoping to change that and find out in a nuanced way why people don’t respect our politicians and what can be done to begin the process of turning people’s faith in the process around. The reason we believe this matters is that the people who need public servants to help them most are least able to fend for themselves. Society only improves if public servants can win the case for that improvement.

We are already creating modest change by offering a paid (above the living wage) internship programme at the Scottish Parliament. We believe there are lots of people who are – or may be – interested in serving as a representative, and prepared to make the sacrifice – but who don’t have the means or the access to do so. None of our interns had the chance to experience politics first hand without our help, and all have emerged declaring it a truly transformational experience. We will launch our Westminster paid internships in 2020 and are developing a paid internship programme in local government.

Our initial research findings tell us that the younger a person is, the less likely they are to see politics as public service. That is why we have begun our work with the next generation – working with students and school children across Scotland to talk positively about the role of a politician, and interrogate what they see the barriers to choosing representation to be – John Swinney MSP and Douglas Alexander are amongst the serving and former politicians that have spoken to school pupils on our behalf.

We know that women in politics are treated so poorly it is a national disgrace. This February Danielle Rowley MP was honest but positive at our “She’s Running!” event to highlight challenges faced. Humza Yousaf MSP and Stella Creasy MP described the abuse politicians face at our event on the perception of people in public life at the Festival of Politics – but both spoke passionately about the fact it does not deter them from the incredible change and good they can achieve in politics.

The importance of our mission has been recognised by the Scottish Government who awarded the Centre a small start-up grant two years ago, without which we could not have grown to the stage we are at now. We are so grateful to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister for that support.

We also benefit from the support of Community Trade Union and generous donations from individuals and organisations upon whom we rely to further our purpose. The University itself has been hugely supportive.

We are a cross-partisan organisation – our inaugural lecture on public service was delivered this February by Sir John Major; our board includes Andrew Wilson, former MSP and author of the SNP’s Growth Commission report, Ed Balls and Ruth Davidson MSP. Our interns are placed with cross-party MSPs and are not able to nominate which party they are placed with in advance.

So we are trying to provide the beginnings of the antidote to the collapse in trust and faith. We believe very passionately in the importance of this. If we don’t do something, we can view in real time the risks that emerge across the world with populist extremism that channels negativism and mistrust for very negative ends.

The easiest thing in the world is to be a bystander and critic of other people’s efforts. If my Dad taught me one thing before his early death it was of the humanity we show by trying, intervening and making an effort to make things better for other people. We may not succeed but it won’t be for the want of trying.

Catherine Smith is chair of the John Smith Centre for Public Service at Glasgow University and youngest daughter of the late John Smith