Simon's Blog

Life is brutal – politics doubly so. Just over three years ago the political party leaders of Britain’s main parties, in their own different ways, controlling all they surveyed. Now they are all gone. Some more quickly than others – does anyone really remember Jo Swinson? A few people perhaps but beyond the nerdy sections of the population she caused almost no ripples at all – this included the good people of Dumbartonshire who dumped her as their MP in 2019. The first to fall.

The next to go was Jeremy Corbyn who hung on until 2020 after leading the Labour Party to one of their greatest defeats in the 2019 election. Of course biggest beast was Boris Johnson who squandered the almost impossible victory he managed create from 2019 and was gone by August 2022. All gone.

Now the final party leader to go has just started to move towards the door. Nicola Sturgeon will soon have more time to spend with her nieces and nephews (this is a reference to her resignation speech). Of them all she was by far the most impressive political force. Yes Johnson was box office but as political operator he really hadn’t a clue and in many ways this lead to his own downfall. Sturgeon on the other hand was able to keep together the warring factions of the SNP together for almost 8 years after their greatest disappoint a feat few could’ve managed but she did. As First Minister of Scotland she ruled supreme but in the end these all things crumble and collapse. So it is with Sturgeon’s career. To rub salt in her wounds Rishis Sunak, a politician who would be much improved if he but 1% of Sturgeon’s political skills, should offer her a seat in the House of Lords.

So goodbye to them all. They were all there through some of the most insane moments of modern British political history. They are a hard act to follow … well perhaps not Jo Swinson!