Going out with a eco-friendly bang?

Jeff over at SNPTV posted recently on the news that Robin Harper MSP is going to contest the seat of Edinburgh East in the upcoming Westminster elections. In response I left something of an Über comment which I’ve rehashed here as a post.

With Robin Harper entering the fray in Edinburgh East the obvious question is who does this damage more? Labour or SNP? Looking at the makeup of Edinburgh East I`d tend to think that the most damage done will actually be to the Lib Dems. LDs had a good showing in the seat in 2005 but have evaporated since.

But between the two real contenders for the seat I think that it’s the SNP, as in North and Leith, that will benefit from the Greens being on the ballot. Consider the sort of coverage the seat will get in the press - Robin Harper, George Kerevan and Shelia Gilmore...who do you think the journos will cover? I think they'll cover the colourful politico (Robin) and one of their own (George).

In truth Robin doesn't stand a chance, but I suspect he's more than aware of that. The Green aim here has definitely got to be long term. This longer term electoral strategy is to their credit and they have organised very sensibly since 1999.

Compare them with the SSP. The SSP stood in most all (if not all) seats and lost deposits galore as they rocked in shock that the masses hadn`t swung behind them. It locked in activists in areas that they were doomed from the start and was a massive drain on financial resources.

The Greens, by contrast, initially only stood on the list...assessed where they were doing well...stood a few candidates in their best areas in 2005...and built the base. They have sought to cement their base through utilising councillors etc. Build and consolidate. For me they are now the textbook example of how a small party should organise for national elections.

My own theory on Robin standing for Westminster is that this is his retirement plan - one last push for the party.

Stand in Edinburgh East...raise the profile and the vote...stand down from the Scottish Parliament in the run into the election to show he's 'serious' about his prospects...and allow the next Green on the Lothians list a year to raise their profile as an MSP as they run into the 2011 election hunting for an improved performance and 2 MSPs on the list.

This time next year I expect we’ll see that the two Green MSPs in the Scottish parliament are Patrick Harvie and Mark Ballard.