If she ruled the world...

Robert McNeil is the Scotsman's parliamentary sketch writer and with the Scottish election looming he has produced an end-of-term report on our MSPs. McNeil's daily reports indicate that he doesn't have much time for right-of-centre politics but it looks like he has the hots for the Tory deputy leader:

GOLDIE, Annabel Con, West of Scotland list ***** Fragrant goddess, household dynamo, oratorical nymph, incorruptible maiden, damsel of democracy, and bleedin’ all-round brilliant bird. Brings own doilies. Good at dusting. Despite all of which, she debates well, crafts grand speeches, and has a deep understanding of politics.

McNeil has rated MSPs on this scale:

***** Could rule the world
**** Could rule the country
*** Could rule a council
** Could rule a residents’ association
* Couldn’t rule an allotment
+ denotes a half star

Sadly, nobody has been rated with one star but, reading between the lines, it is probably warranted by some two-star folk.

I have done a little analysis of the ratings and can report average scores by party:

Labour: 2.96
SNP: 3.45
Conservative: 3.5
Liberal Democrat: 3.5
Others: 4.3

The largest party (Labour) has the lowest score and their typical MSP "couldn't rule a council". Some of us have noticed! Does the Labour machine select numpties as candidates through some sort of "market failure"? I have a horrible feeling that Labour's candidates truly reflect the party's membership.

The "others" do well, presumably because it is difficult to get elected in this category unless you're well above average and once elected they get more exposure than backbenchers from the larger parties and can learn "on the job".

All in all, a fascinating report.