Not for the first time in this session of the Scottish Parliament, an MSP has defected from one party to another. Former SNP government minister Ash Regan defected to the Alba Party, Conservative MSP Jamie Greene switched to the Liberal Democrats and now Conservative MSP Graham Simpson has moved to Reform UK.
Each have had their different reasons, one I wholeheartedly sympathise with, but regardless of reason it needs to stop. If their political allegiance has changed, they need to seek a new mandate from the public.
The defections
Ash Regan made her announcement on the 28 October 2023 that she was defecting from the Scottish National Party to the Alba Party. The former Scottish Government Minister, SNP leadership candidate and current MSP for Edinburgh Eastern cited “increasing disillusionment” with the SNP leadership and their “wavering commitment” to Scottish independence.
Despite switching from a centre-left to a party described as ‘centre-left to centre-right’ in Scottish politics, she refused to put her new allegiance to her voters in a by-election.
It was Conservative MSP Jamie Greene who moved next, this time to the Liberal Democrats in April this year. I sympathise with this defection.
The West of Scotland list MSP stated that his party leader Russell Findlay was “caving to a Reform-lite agenda” and that the Scottish Conservatives had become “Trump-esque in both style and substance to win over right-wing voters”. He accused the Scots Tories of “right-wing populism” and being obsessed with “endless culture wars and fringe issues”.
Now another Conservative MSP, Graham Simpson, has moved, this time to Reform UK. His defection, in August, gives the party their first MSP in Holyrood this parliamentary term, albeit not their first ever.
Former Conservative MSP Michelle Ballantyne defected to Reform UK in January 2021, only to lose her seat in the May 2021 Holyrood election.
Speaking in Broxburn, West Lothian, alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Simpson said he joined Farage’s party because “we have the chance to create something new, exciting and lasting that puts the needs of people over the system, that asks what is going wrong and how we can fix it”. He also cited his belief that Reform could “help to remove the SNP from office”.
The mandate
One MSP leaving a centre-left, pro-independence party for a centre-right pro-independence party. Two MSPs leaving a right-wing party; one for a centre to centre-left party and one for a far-right party, both pro-union. Despite not changing their stances on the constitution, their moves across the political spectrum change the landscape drastically.
The people of Edinburgh Eastern did not vote for a ‘centre-left to centre-right’ political party. They voted for a centre-left party in the SNP. 82,650 people in the West of Scotland voted for the Conservatives compared to only 13,570 who voted for the Liberal Democrats. They now have a Lib Dem representative they did not elect. 59,896 people in Central Scotland voted for the Conservatives compared to only 650 for Reform UK. They rejected Nigel Farage’s party and yet now have an unelected representative thanks to Simpson’s defection.
The voters wanted a certain party elected; more so on the list system where it’s parties that are voted for in the regions. They elected politicians with certain stances on the political spectrum. It is neither right nor fair that they should be represented by politicians of a different stance now, simply because said politicians ‘changed their minds’.
Representation
In a democracy, voters have the right to choose who represents them and, as a result if their representatives change their party colours and follow a different manifesto, they should have the right to vote on whether or not they keep them.
It is simple logic that a candidate elected under a certain political banner should represent the views for which they were elected by their constituents. They shouldn’t be allowed to switch mid-way through and say ‘Sorry, I know this wasn’t what you voted for, but I’m doing it anyway’. That won’t do, there has to be accountability from the electorate.
You wouldn’t expect the First Minister of Scotland to jump ship to another party and stay sitting, so why is it acceptable for MSPs? The whole basis of democracy is choice but what is the point when people are denied a say when this happens? All elected MSPs who change parties must either resign and stand again in a subsequent by-election or, if elected on the list, resign and wait for the next Holyrood elections. To stay on without doing so makes their place in the democratic chamber illegitimate.
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