So, the SNP rulebook. Don’t switch off just yet. I know that for people who are not members of the party this is not a gripping topic. In truth, it bores the pants off most who are members.
Yet it is important. The way in which Scotland’s largest political party, the party of government, runs itself ought to be of interest. Because, when it messes up it has consequences for us all, but most notably for that half of the population which wishes Scotland to be an independent country. Indeed, it’s fair to say that had the structures of the party been better it might have made fewer mistakes, and things could be different now.
A review is coming. A special conference takes place in Perth on March 22nd and the proposed changes in structures are now online for all to see. So, here’s the first of two previews of what’s coming up.
Most of the debate centres on the National Executive Committee, an unwieldy body of nearly fifty members which most people agree has become unfit for purpose. There are two main reasons why this has happened. The first is that the party has been (rightly) concerned about social and cultural barriers that prevent people getting involved and has (wrongly) created positions on its NEC to overcome them.
The second reason was the creation six years ago of sixteen NEC members, two of which must be elected in each of the eight Holyrood electoral regions. At least one in each region must be a woman in a laudable attempt to achieve at least fifty percent representation.
To understand why this has become a problem we need to go back to 2018, the last time the SNP made major changes to its constitution. Back then we had a major debate about creating a regional structure for the party. The idea was to create regional organisers who would coordinate and support the work of volunteer activists. It is a common enough idea amongst not only political parties but other large membership organisations too.
The idea was well supported by the membership and resolutions passed at the national conference. But it never happened. Implementation would have required decentralisation of money, staff and power from the national headquarters. Those in charge at the time viewed this prospect with as much enthusiasm as a bucket of cold sick.
Now of course, it is not a good look for senior party staffers to be seen to contradict the will of the membership openly. So, they didn’t. On paper, regional steering committees were established but given no authority. And every attempt to fund their development was blocked.
That is the context in which the notion of regional NEC reps evolved. In strange way a mechanism which was meant to give grass roots members more direct say in the running of the party ended up doing the opposite.
The NEC is elected at conference, but the regional reps can only be elected by delegates from that region. Each region has a women’s place and a general one – two contests. So, the representation of members is atomised in sixteen separate ballots in which eight different electorates participate.
This makes it very difficult for members who wish to change what the party does and how it does it. Minority views can only achieve representation if they succeed in winning a majority in one or more regions.
It also denies the party the benefit of good people at a national level if they have the misfortune to live in a region with a lot of other activists.
I think in some people’s minds these representatives are there to represent a particular regional interest, even when none exists. Members don’t hold different views on major policy areas like currency, public ownership, the monarchy, or whatever because of where they live.
Yet this misconception is the only explanation I can offer for the whackiest proposal ever to grace an order paper. It is being seriously proposed that in order to reduce the size of the NEC the sixteen regional reps be maintained, but only one from each region can attend each time. As if in each region the two reps had identical views and represented a homogeneous regional interest.
They don’t, of course. Nor should they. I look forward to the proponents of this nuttiness telling us what will happen if both reps for a particular region turn up for the same meeting, as they have every right to do.
What we really need now is to admit that the current regional structure of the party was still born and commit to a development plan that will look at how a new area organisation can be developed. One where we shift money and staff to that end, to encourage, train and motivate local activists and to build a winning campaigning machine.
In the meantime, we should end the pretence of regional NEC representation and elect grass roots members of the NEC in two blocks at conference, one for female candidates, and one open to anyone. That would guarantee a plurality of views on the executive which would be broadly representative of the delegates on the floor of the conference. Which means the next time the conference makes a major new policy decision, there might have a better hope of it being implemented.