A New Year's resolution for our MSPs: don't be a passenger

Christine Grahame, an 81-year-old SNP veteran, is among the departing old guard. “There’s a lot of people in here I admire,” she recently told Holyrood magazine.

“They may just be attack dogs for their party, or people who are very balanced, but you need that mix. There are some that are just passengers, I don’t know what they contribute. But I’m not going to start naming names.”

Anyone who follows the minutiae of Scottish politics would be hard pushed to disagree with the latter sentiment.

READ MORE: Education is set to be a key battleground for Holyrood 2026

Don’t get me wrong: plenty of MSPs do great work, despite the bad rap they often get. God knows, it can be a thankless, punishing gig, particularly for those with caring responsibilities.

But that just makes it all the more baffling that some seem content to barely make a mark at all. Why enter frontline politics, with all the hassle that entails, just to fill out the backbenches?

Alex Neil, another nationalist veteran and a former minister, once took a swipe at the “nodding donkeys” in Holyrood. “There are a lot of people who have recently entered the Scottish Parliament without a political hinterland,” he said. “It has made things duller.

“There are far too many MSPs, from all parties, who before they speak get a briefing from the central unit, or actually get their speech written for them, and just read it out like nodding donkeys. I think that is bad for the Parliament.”

When I wrote a feature for The Scotsman a couple of years ago reflecting on 25 years of devolution, there was a real nostalgia for Holyrood’s early days. Things were less tribal back then, it was claimed, less relentlessly partisan.

I don’t doubt there is truth in this, although politics has always been a messy, brutal affair. But there was also a view that the quality of debate has declined, too. There was a sense of wasted opportunity and a belief that Holyrood desperately needs a good shake-up.

Part of that is down to structural issues, such as weak committees, but it is also a reflection of the wider culture. There has sometimes been a tired, lacklustre atmosphere in the Scottish Parliament of late. It should never feel like that.

Not every politician needs to be an outspoken maverick, of course. The system would break down. But without drive and conviction, and a determination to make a difference, even if that means being a total pain in the a*se, what’s the point?

Scotland, like everywhere else, does not have its troubles to seek. We need politicians with energy and ideas, and a parliamentary chamber filled with robust, high-quality exchanges on the issues that matter.

If it's not too late for New Year's resolutions, then a good one for our MSPs might be: don't be a passenger. Donkey or otherwise.