PARCA/Nosey: Difference between revisions
→Making (a fine) Friday (even) Finer: Completed
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Making a fine Friday even Finer
Self-styled eco-warrioress Dr Fiona Fawcett, the Tory party’s election candidate for Ward 21, may well struggle to win a seat on Highland Council, thanks largely to the financial heft of Lib Dem candidate Angus MacDonald. Having met her today, I can straightforwardly say that that’s a pity. Worse, polling suggests that success for her would most likely come at the expense of the Independent candidacy of Thomas MacLennan, whose evident (bitter) experience taking on the Nessiemafiosi infuses his election flyer and who would, no doubt, also be a tremendous champion for Fort William. Worse still, the unutterably mediochre Dr Kate Willis (Green), a seriously delusional watermelon (green on the outside; red through-and-through) looks unstoppable because her party’s risible policies, a perfect complement to what can only be thoroughgoing economic illiteracy on her part, will almost certainly attract enough ex-Labour voters to bring her home in second place behind the SNP’s Sarah Fanet (whose first-place is assured - no bad thing, either: she’s got the right stuff, right enough). Therefore, unless Mr MacDonald’s wholly misguided candidacy can somehow be headed-off - which seems unlikely, unfortunately - then, as things stand, Fort William will inevitably be deprived of the service of one of two bloody good potential representatives: a real shame :-(
Despite a certain amount of nudging I have yet to actually speak on the phone with Mr MacLennan yet (let alone face-to-face), nor has he proposed a day and time to tour Plantation with me. He has, however, replied to my colleague Jennifer with persuasive and ingenuous answers to the first batch of questions in NoseyPARCA's hustings-over-email (a 'cyberhustings' perhaps?), particularly in respect of question four, which asked for the candidate's view on the possibility of creating a town council for Fort William, Caol, Corpach, and Kilmallie. Interestingly, neither Mr MacLennan nor Dr Fawcett was willing to say at this stage whether they are for or against; rather, both laid out what their criteria would be for making the decision and in both cases this struck me as a mature way to approach the issue: Mr MacLennan's answer was, in my opinion, the more carefully thought-through: he stressed the pressing need for much greater localism throughout the ward, not just along the Linnhe shoreline - something he's dead right about. Dr Fawcett's principle criterion was that any reorganisation must involve real devolution of power from Inverness to ensure we don't create "just another talking-shop" - thereby echoing Mr MacLennan's call for increased localism, albeit looking at the question through the other end of the telescope. (It is admittedly true that I had not thought much about the effect on rural communities of creating a Town Council here - shame on me, really: I'll have to do some thinking about that.)
I can't say much more about Mr MacLennan because, unlike Dr Fawcett, he has engaged so little with me - despite a fair few nudges. I can, though, quote something my Nosey colleague Jennifer (accurately) reported my saying about him last weekend which speaks for itself:-
"Mr Drayton has previously described Dr Willis as 'dense' and Mr MacDonald as 'hopelessly naive - totally out of his depth, frankly. He shows not the least understanding of what he's going up against. The Nessiemafiosi are just going to run rings round him. I don't know Mr [Thomas] MacLennan from Adam, actually - he was before my time - but he's got to be a far, far better bet: look at the stress his flyer puts on local spending, local decision making, accountability, on his being "experienced and determined." Those are the words of a man with scars on his back.' " (source: <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/news-release-4>.)
So much for Mr MacLennan. About Dr Fawcett, far more may be said. Here is some of it: she and her husband, Richard, spent well over two hours touring Plantation and the 'Slug' allotments on Friday, which happened to be 2022's 'Earth Day', too - see the aforementioned 'news release' (ie press release) for more about Dr Fawcett's environmentalism. That press release reported Dr Fawcett's acceptance of my "challenge" to all candidates to visit Lochaber's highest SIMD** locale. I'm not sure what she and her husband were expecting to find here but, happily, it is very little exaggeration to say that she was quite charmed - almost enchanted, indeed - by a (wonderfully sunlit) Plantation estate. Coming with fresh eyes on a beautiful day, she found much to admire in our distinctive architecture, the wonderful views, the potential of our green spaces, and even - at least to some extent - the layout of the houses and flats. She did not canvass at all (even though I'd indicated, as I have to all five candidates, that I'd look the other way if they did), but she did speak at some length to two or three locals without explaining the reason for her visit. The last was an East-European lady working to a sweat in the Slug polytunnel; the pair spoke of the slow growth of basil and coriander this year (coincidentally, my favourite herbs, along with sage) - apparently Dr Fawcett is a committed grow-your-own-producer and has her own polytunnel at home.
[[ **the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, which measures poverty. ]]
Home for her, alas, is not Lochaber. Yet. But, if elected, she will (at least, initially) be shacking up locally with her (newly-elected) friend and fellow Tory councillor, Ms Liz Saggers (Caol and Mallaig). If Ms Sagger's is anything like as passionate and driven as Dr Fawcett promises to be, our shoreline conurbation will be blessed with a dynamic duo of very great energy and resource: let's hope so.
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