Climbing the Mountain

Earlier this year, I decided to climb Mount Everest.

I set off for Nepal with a party of mountaineers. We were led by a famous sherpa guide. However, the expedition was a failure. Most of my fellow mountaineers were almost completely inexperienced mountain-climbers. The expedition was late setting off. We failed to catch up with any of the other parties. They were well up the mountain. We hoped to catch them up, and pass them, as we hiked and yomped, and took the mountain. However this did not happen. In retrospect, we were far too optimistic, foolish and naive to think we could beat the established mountain-climbing parties, insufficiently prepared for our late-season start, our sherpa guide was carrying too much baggage, and worst of all, we really did not realize how big the mountain really was.

The mountain is the SNP!

There is not going to be another full-frontal assault on the mountain for a few years now. This is a good thing, because it means that there is now plenty of time to assess how the expedition went, and more importantly, how to plan for future expeditions. Now that I am back down the valley in my log-cabin, I have started to look back at the expedition, and where it went wrong, and how it can be improved in the future.

The central fault, was that of being over-ambitious. In retrospect, the late-season arrival on the mountain of our newly formed, and inexperienced, climbing party, was always doomed to fail. It seems to me, that before there is another attempt to take the mountain, that a lot more planning and preparations must go into it.

My thoughts are that we need to do a lot of training beforehand. We did not do any training, feeling that enthusiasm would get us up the mountain. It did not! Indeed, as we tried to climb higher, we were left gasping for air! Never mind altitude training, basic training was needed too!

With years stretching out ahead, before the next attempt on the mountain, there is now plenty of time to prepare for the next expedition, or expeditions. Before the mountain is taken on again, years of training will be required by a new climbing party, or climbing parties. Before tackling the mountain again, smaller-scale expeditions need to be initiated. The aim of these little expeditions, would be to start training in the foothills. This will give the future climbers some experience of the altitude, and more importantly, can be used for establishing base-camps in the foothills, from which a future expedition can then be launched.

We now have time for plans to evolve.

Science has shown that evolution is the source of the origin of the species. Way back in time, huge dinosaurs roamed the earth, with their huge feet stomping the ground. Between their legs, scuttled little mammals, attempting to survive amongst the big beasts. It only required the appearance of a passing asteroid, for things to change.

The old political parties are the dinosaurs!

The Scottish political scene is dominated by big beasts! Big parties, that like big dinosaurs, just blunder about in the political jungle, crashing through the trees, caring nothing of what is in their path, seeing no need, to take heed, of any others.

Of course, the recent elections used an electoral system that suited these old parties. They could use this electoral system to maintain their existence in the eco-system. Because the electoral system is designed so that constituency wins, make it harder to win on the party list. The dominant SNP generally win constituency seats but fail to pick up on the list. Whilst the other parties, are merely content to keep picking up those list seats. The plan to create an alliance, and to use tactical voting to swing the balance, never really took off. The old parties refused to seriously consider any alliance or pact, and merely continued on their merry list way. The election results, also clearly show, that whilst tactical voting was discussed, and took place to some degree, it was not to any great degree. In fact, the election was hardly worth running, the result was almost identical to the previous election. All that effort, same result! What can be concluded, despite all the talk about how the voting and counting worked, and thus the need for tactical voting, tactical voting played very little part in the election. Maximum unity was required to attempt to change things with tactical voting.

Now though, the asteroid is coming!

Whilst the Scottish Parliamentary elections of 2021, were fought using an electoral system that is now seen to be deeply flawed, and can be gamed, future elections are to be fought using a different electoral system.

Unity can now evolve into alliance!

The next elections in Scotland, will be in just one year. Local elections, to elect local councillors, to run local councils, will be next year, in 2022. This uses a completely different electoral system. The system is called STV (single transferable vote). There is no party list. Instead, a voter has one ballot paper, and one vote. However, the voter does not mark an 'X' for their preferred candidate. Instead, they number the candidates they wish to vote for, in the preferred order that they wish them to be elected. They mark their first choice candidate as '1', then continue down the list as far as they want to go, with '2', '3', etc. They still have only one vote, but if their first choice is eliminated after a round of counting, that one vote is then transferred to their second choice of candidate, and so on, going down the numbers.

Unlike the party list system, STV does not require unity by parties. Sure, alliances can be formed, and it would be a good idea if they were, but they are not essential! Being a big party is not essential! Being in a party is not essential!

Indeed! The local elections are unique in several ways!

The STV system means that all have a chance to be elected, as long as the campaign message is good enough of course. In reality though, most voters vote on a party basis. However, at local elections, party loyalty may not be quite as strong as in other elections. Most parties put out bland messages to encourage their party loyalists to vote for them on a national basis. Local issues are rarely addressed by the main parties. However, local elections are the elections least requiring national parties and national policies.

During the recent Scottish Parliamentary elections, my streetlights have been out for weeks. With the election over, I determined, that like Luke Skywalker, I could not live on the dark side, and thus desired to see a light sabre. Strangely, to report streetlights not working, you had to register with the council. Rather than do that, I merely emailed one of my local councillors, and within days, experienced a new enlightenment!

These are the sort of issues that are important in local elections and I think people would like to see local candidates addressing local issues.

One of the most unique things about local elections, is that, unlike elections to the British or Scottish Parliaments, no deposit of money is required to stand in local elections. Finally of course, being local elections, seats contested, are in smaller local areas.

Thus, local elections can be described as being an entry-level job, for those who aspire to elected office. A modest sum of money for leaflets is useful, though not required, though of course it is best to do leaflets. However, the old art of pressing the flesh is here a tool that can be used to its fullest. Not just knocking doors at election time though. Aspiring candidates for local government should be putting in work in the local community well in advance of the election. Indeed, aspiring for office, should merely be an extension of a proven track-record in the local community. This is the election for a local candidate standing on local issues. Indeed, if any election is best suited for an Independent candidate, it is the local election. Again, for smaller parties too, again, this is the entry-level election to go for.

Of course though, as aspiring local candidates throw themselves into local politics, they will discover some new things. They will discover, that although people talk about local politics, those involved in local politics are very reluctant to talk politics. Indeed, organizations like community councils and resident associations will act in a non-political way. Community Councils in fact, are statutory bodies, set up under the law, and are in fact the lowest level of local government. They are also expressly forbidden to engage in party politics.

Another thing encountered in local politics, is that it is dominated by petty Caesars, petty dictators, and petty pocket Napoleons. No matter how small is some local committee, it is likely to be dominated by persons who are only interested in maintaining their own position, no matter how small or insignificant that position, or that committee. Indeed! It is actually in the interests of these players, to keep their committee small and insignificant, thus not attracting any rivals from coming in to challenge them.

With local groups, a willingness to work hard is appreciated. One position that is often available to the committed activist is that of Secretary. The same applies to the role of Minute Secretary.

For those demanding that their local activism be more political, there are outlets too. Right now, the SNP-ran Glasgow City Council, has taken the decision to not reopen many libraries. This has resulted in local activists in folding-chairs engaging in silent read-ins outside the said libraries.

These then, are the foothills, that a local Independent candidate must hike through, and navigate, if they wish to be a credible candidate in the local elections. It is of course, unlikely, that they would be able to win a seat, thus establishing that base-camp in the foothills. However, even just be attempting to, that presence can be noted. This is of course, a 'Long March' form of politics. It is how serious political parties have been operating for decades, or certainly did in decades past. It is all these little base-camps, which can be used, and are seen by voters over the decades, thus giving a candidate credibility, and also giving a party credibility too. Each little campaign, is like a little bit of pocket-money, popped into the bank. Over time, deep time, that money piles up, and is seen to be piling up. It is that little pile of pocket-money, that can then be drawn upon at election-time.

This vision of mine, for an Independent candidate, to be honest, is a vision of a lifetime of political activity, with no rewards at the end. However, for those who wish to pursue a career in politics, local activity is a way of getting yourself noticed. The main political parties, now often hollowed out into empty shells of the once mass-membership parties that they once were, are desperate to find new young hard-working activists and recruit them to their party. Again, like I said, local politics is an entry-level job!

However, I also said that the big old parties are like dinosaurs, and the local elections of 2022 will be like an asteroid. New species of mammals can evolve.

So as we once more turn our attention to the SNP mountain, we see that it is like Everest, like Tirich Mir viewed from the Chitral Valley, like the Paramount Mountain looking benignly on at the latest film projected onto the silver-screen. It is a huge mountain!

However, now is not the time to try to take the mountain again. Rather, now is the time for the creation of new hiking parties, with which hikers can hike into the foothills, and establish their base-camps. There is no need for all to be in one party. Indeed, now is the time for a multiplication of parties.

Marty McFly, planning to go 'Back to the Future' is pleased to see the re-appearance of the Doc, but as they prepare to move off, Marty is astonished when the Doc tells him "We don't need parties where we're going!"

So yes, there is room on those foothills for all sorts of parties, big and small. Room too, for hardy independent individuals, carrying all they need on their own backs. Now is the time for these foothills to be swarming with all sorts of parties. Big parties! Small parties! Rival parties! Alliances of parties! Even alliances of alliances!

In the struggle for survival on those foothills, all will compete, be they big dinosaurs, or small mammals. Many species may go extinct! Many more new species may emerge and evolve. In the end, next year, some may survive, and thrive, and make nests, and base-camps, on those foothills. These lucky survivors, or a new generation that is spawned, can then think of spreading up those foothills, and then perhaps finally climbing up on to the mountain sides.

Marty McFly, looking up at that mountain that is Biff Tanner, must be brave, and calm. He needs to have a plan, so that he knows what he will do, and how he will do it, when Biff makes the challenge, and puts the question "Yella McFly?"