tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3952108899218764633.post8962180921135194713..comments2024-02-28T22:03:19.609+00:00Comments on A Scottish Liberal: Sheridan convicted of perjuryAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02027368242570244912noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3952108899218764633.post-61306821096833343632010-12-26T15:05:42.470+00:002010-12-26T15:05:42.470+00:00Stuart, I agree this is the end of the road for So...Stuart, I agree this is the end of the road for Solidarity. It has never been electorally relevant, having been reduced to a mere one councillor in 2007, but it retained a disproportionately large public profile as it had closely allied itself with Tommy Sheridan. The game is surely up for Solidarity; anything it had resembling a popular appeal must by now have all but evaporated. <br /><br />However, it isn't necessarily "the end" either for Tommy Sheridan or the SSP. I agree that it probably is, and both deserve to be consigned to the history books of Scottish politics. However, Sheridan has considerable ability and - lest we forget - a capacity for personal reinvention. A comeback at some point in the future wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility, however unlikely it currently seems.<br /><br />As for the SSP: well, it faces an uphill challenge to distance itself from this sorry affair and regain its public credibility (which, ironically, once came from Tommy Sheridan!). However, if it can successfully project itself as a forward-looking party and identify itself with a softer ideology than in the past while taking advantage of public dissatisfaction with the main parties, it could do well in the regional list voting at the expense of the SNP, Solidarity, Labour and possibly ourselves. Again, it's an unlikely scenario and it would require cannier political leadership than I would give Colin Fox credit for, but I wouldn't write off the SSP just yet...Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027368242570244912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3952108899218764633.post-59036852470923162502010-12-26T13:00:19.039+00:002010-12-26T13:00:19.039+00:00Your right that Tommy looks like a lonely figure n...Your right that Tommy looks like a lonely figure now. This is the end not only for Tommy but solidarity and the SSPStuartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3952108899218764633.post-17216254890921458832010-12-24T18:34:08.598+00:002010-12-24T18:34:08.598+00:00It's not a question of whether I like him or n...It's not a question of whether I like him or not. It's a question of whether he has a political future (in my view he shouldn't) and whether justice has actually been done and he deserves what he's got (in my view it has, and he does).Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027368242570244912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3952108899218764633.post-49411109669134431922010-12-24T17:32:19.026+00:002010-12-24T17:32:19.026+00:00I take it you don't like Tommy then?I take it you don't like Tommy then?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com