SNP departures open the door for young Holyrood blood

Politics is a fickle game and its changeable winds can easily blow even experienced captains off course leaving them high and dry on the rocks, or sunk altogether.

Departing frontline politics on your own terms is something of a luxury.

A succession of well kent SNP faces have announced their intention not to stand again for Holyrood next year. The latest this week – Alex Neil, Roseanna Cunningham and Jeane Freeman – prompted some speculation about what’s behind their decisions. Alex is a ‘99er, there since Holyrood’s inception. Roseanna is Scotland’s longest serving parliamentarian, representing Perthshire in two parliaments for a quarter of a century. Jeane was only elected in 2016, but her public service at Holyrood goes back to the parliament’s earliest days.

“What’s happening amongst the SNP group in the Scottish Parliament?”, wrote a concerned observer online in wake of this week’s latest slew of statements. “Something’s amiss”.

There is a generally healthy scepticism among voters when politicians announce they are standing down to spend more time with their families. But one of the dozen SNP members who has announced their intention to call it a day was quick to put the doubters right. No intrigue, no sleight of hand, just a simple case of “we’re getting on a bit”.

For 10 of the departees that’s certainly the case. They are, on average, already of pensionable age and will be well into their 70s by the end of the next parliament. They have served their time in an exhausting, all-consuming job and know it’s time to hang up their boots.

For Gail Ross and Aileen Campbell the circumstances are different. They’re fortysomethings with young kids for whom the family-friendly Scottish Parliament has fallen short of its promise. It has taken the disruption of Covid-19 to finally force Holyrood to accommodate remote participation and voting. The past few months have shown what can be done (it’s 2020 for goodness sake), and that building in some flexibility to minimise travel is not beyond the wit of our parliament.

Across the pond, Donald Trump became the oldest first-term president at 70 and is the oldest to seek a second term. Joe Biden, should he prevail, would be 78 on inauguration day, making him the oldest ever president to serve. In recent days he has suggested he is open to the idea of a second term. Trump, true to form, has called his opponent “confused” and “diminished”. But Biden has also acknowledged the legitimacy of asking those seeking office who fall into the retirement bracket “whether or not they’re fit and whether they’re ready”. Age does come with added risk.

I wouldn’t suggest for a second that those leaving the Scottish Parliament are too old to run a country. But they are all old enough to say “I’ve served my time”.

And the exodus need not be cause for despair, but an opportunity for renewal after the first two decades of devolution.

Last year, to mark the 20 years since the Scottish Parliament was reconvened, there was much reflection on its achievements to date, not least from Alex Neil. He observed that, while proud of progress made by the parliament, now an established force for good in Scottish life, he harboured some disappointment: devolution has proved restrictive and the parliament has, at times, acted timidly. I don’t think that’s an entirely unfair analysis, but perhaps not surprising for a parliament just over two decades old which has found its feet and learned how to flex its muscles.

While timid would never be a criticism levelled against Alex Neil, I hope he would be the first to welcome radical and audacious aspirant candidates looking to fill that void of experience he and his peers leave behind next May.

READ MORE: Whoever the SNP replace Jeane Freeman with has big shoes to fill

It is a bit trite to say the younger generation have most at stake in our future. But it’s undeniable when you consider the main issues which will define our politics in the years to come. Young people have already lived through a “once in a lifetime” recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis. Those circumstances made it harder for them to find a job, more likely to receive lower wages, they don’t have savings, don’t own their home and are more likely to accumulate debt. They will be hammered once again as a global pandemic shrinks Scotland’s economy by a third. Rebuilding our society from the ashes of Covid will be of paramount concern over the next parliament.

Secondly, the climate crisis is upon us. It is really, and its consequences will be severe unless we act now. Those under the age of 45 are twice as likely to consider it a grave and present danger than those just 10 years older.

And of course, support for independence is now at 72% among Scots under 35, so they can’t be that daft. A very different, younger Scottish Parliament come May 2021 can be one of aspiration, ambition and serious purpose.

IT’S worth bearing in mind that the SNP heads into another election cycle by the UK’s most successful, tried and tested political leader. Nicola Sturgeon has led party and government for six years. By contrast, Boris Johnson has led party and government, badly, for little over a year. Keir Starmer has failed to set the heather on fire in his first six months. It’s hard to find the energy to care about the ongoing LibDem leadership election, or who prevails. At Holyrood, Douglas Ross is but weeks into the job and Richard Leonard increasingly looks like he’s on borrowed time.

Those lamenting the announced departures shouldn’t write off young blood as naive and thereby inferior. Question the ideas of up-and-coming candidates, sure, but don’t sneer. There may be something behind the fact that at 50 years old Nicola Sturgeon is so accomplished. She first put herself to the electoral test at the age of 21 and was elected aged 28. She’s had a great deal of practice at being the best.

Politicians shouldn’t go on and on. But politics does. And, if we value our democracy, that’s a good thing.