Skip to main content

Advice to the new MSPs

A contribution made to Portland PR's weekly briefing on Holyrood

A new job is a time to look in the mirror and undertake a self-assessment about what one can contribute in a new role. And what weaknesses one may have that could inhibit success. Being elected an MSP is no different in that respect. But very different in many others.

One has become public property and every action, or action thought to be by you, will be open to public comment, often unfairly. Silence is often your best response. When one comments on criticism one lengthens the “war” and widens the knowledge of it. Set your own agenda rather than respond to that of others.

Who can you trust among your fellow Parliamentarians? Make contact with as many as you can as quickly as you can. And make it a priority to interact with political opponents. The first substantive decision in the new Parliament is the election of a new Presiding Officer and it will be a secret ballot. Understanding the dynamic of other parties in making this decision can make you stand out from colleagues as an informed networker.

The demands on your time will be well beyond the constraints of the clock. Set out by doing only what only a Parliamentarian can do in person. In the last year, I dealt with over 3,000 cases raised by constituents. Actually, I dealt with only a handful of politically sensitive ones. My staff dealt with the others without my seeing my responses before they were sent.

Select one key member of staff to run your office and ask a trusted colleague to sit in on all stages of the recruitment process before making any offer. And remember that running your office requires a different skillset from winning you the election. That person will find the other staff, control your diary and write your press releases. Delegate, delegate, delegate. And the greatest of these delegations is to make them responsible for managing your weaknesses. For example; I hate the phone. My staff are responsible for bullying me into making calls in a timely fashion.

Rise early each day. Read the printed and broadcast media via the internet. Review the day’s diary and check you have all you need to hand.

Write the day’s list for action. Things you must do. Things you intend to do. Things you would like to do. And as part of the input, refer to the list you wrote before shutting up shop the previous day as the plan for the tomorrow which today now is. Always write a list at the end of the day. It helps you mentally shut the door on the day, allows some probably brief relaxation followed by worry-free sleep.

Stay fit and weigh yourself every day. If your weight rises by more than a kilo, fast for a day. Respond immediately! Your health is best measured by your weight.

Nurture your friends outside politics and put private time in the diary for them and you.

Enjoy your time as a Parliamentarian.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections - An interview with SPVR

 

The Eric Liddell Centre Burns Supper

Welcome to the world of Robert Burns. 558 pieces of writing over a couple of decades, around 400,000 words in total. Not all of it in Scots. Some of it, as his “Grace Before Dinner” illustrates, in English; O thou who kindly dost provide For every creature's want! We bless Thee, God of Nature wide, For all Thy goodness lent: And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide, May never worse be sent; But, whether granted, or denied, Lord, bless us with content. Amen! Thank you indeed to those who tonight did provide. Some of Burns’ writings, recorded for us long-standing folk songs. An educated man who studied French, Latin and mathematics. Not a rich man, not a poor man; when he died he left the equivalent in today’s money about £40,000. And a man known to this day as a father whose children had many mothers. Every woman in Edinburgh and many beyond seemed to want to explore what he kept in his trousers. Indeed on the very day of his funeral, his last child was born. Burns

A good accident of legislation .. in 1865

Found by accident in the Nairnshire Telegraph and General Advertiser for the Northern Counties - Wednesday, 25 January 1865 WOMEN'S RIGHTS FOREVER! The last mail from Australia has brought us the astounding intelligence that the Legislature of Victoria, having conferred the franchise upon women one of the provisions of their latest reform Bill, the fair voters, in proportionate number exercised their right at the General Election, the result of which is the rare phenomenon of giving an existing Government working majority. One is disposed at first sight to grudge the colony her high distinction. But on examination of all the facts, she has not, after all, so far surpassed in courage, faith, and virtue the other nations mankind might first sight appear. It is true the Victorian Legislature has given the right to women to vote in the election of its members—but, although the name of the colony might suggest that gallantry was its motive, strict truth obliges us to say that n