Senior LibDem tells leader: ‘improve or go’ A SENIOR Liberal Democrat councillor has called on party leader Nicol Stephen to "raise his game" within the next 12 months or consider resigning.
Edinburgh councillor and education convener Marilyne MacLaren said her colleagues should ask some "very hard questions" about Stephen's leadership. She also said Tavish Scott, the LibDem MSP for Shetland, would be "one of the contenders" in the event of a vacancy.
MacLaren'sremarkscameinan interview with the Sunday Herald three months after the LibDems lost ground at the Holyrood election - coming fourth to the Tories - after what a senior partysourcedescribedasa"very underwhelming campaign".
The frustration felt towards Stephen among sections of the grassroots appears to be shared by MacLaren, who said: "I am saying that, after the election, we give Nicol time to regroup and to lead us forward. But if things have not improved by next summer, I really think we have to ask some very hard questions of the leader.
"He has to raise his game. That's the challenge. He can't coast along."
Part of Stephen's problem during the party's"disappointing" Holyrood campaign was his failure to make an impression with the electorate, MacLaren said.
"He has many good qualities. He's a family man and he's got very strong ideals, but none of this comes across," she said. "The person that you are, as a leader, matters. It's not just your politics."
However,shesaidStephen'slow profile was not all his fault: "It is the people around him as well, the people who planned the campaign. They need to look very carefully at their planning."
On a possible replacement, she said party chief whip Tavish Scott would be "one of the contenders", adding: "We have to see, if it does happen that we have a change of leadership, who puts their name forward."
However,aleadershipcontestis unlikely as Stephen recently got the backing of his Holyrood colleagues for another four-year term.
A spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "Marilyne MacLaren is entitled to her view. However, there is no support for this within the party."
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Posted by: Jason, Borders on 9:44pm Sat 25 Aug 07
Got to laugh. Im no fan of the boring one but her and the muppets in the SNP Group's handling of the 22 schools closures she is trying to steam roll through suggest she will be the one grapling for the P45 soon.
Got to laugh. Im no fan of the boring one but her and the muppets in the SNP Group's handling of the 22 schools closures she is trying to steam roll through suggest she will be the one grapling for the P45 soon.
Posted by: doug stanhope, edinburgh on 10:05pm Sat 25 Aug 07
Is this a joke? the woman who is closing 22 schools to universal opposition is attacking her own Leader? might be interesting to see if Nicol votes for the school closures if its brought to Parliament? ha ha
Is this a joke? the woman who is closing 22 schools to universal opposition is attacking her own Leader? might be interesting to see if Nicol votes for the school closures if its brought to Parliament? ha ha
Posted by: Malcolm, Fife on 10:27pm Sat 25 Aug 07
I think she always used to moan about the coalition as well. Saw her on TV on Friday saying the same stuff as in this article. In fact, I have never seen her on TV when she isn't slagging off the Lib Dems. She must be in deep cover for another party.
I think she always used to moan about the coalition as well. Saw her on TV on Friday saying the same stuff as in this article. In fact, I have never seen her on TV when she isn't slagging off the Lib Dems. She must be in deep cover for another party.
Posted by: RETIRED....... but still switched on, Fed Up To The Teeth on 9:30am Sun 26 Aug 07
Well, if she can't be honest about her OWN party (a strange concept for FibDems, I know)who CAN she attack????.
LibDems attack......to paraphrase dennis Healey......"being mauled by a dead sheep !!"
..but Quisling Stephen??....a total disgrace!!
Well, if she can't be honest about her OWN party (a strange concept for FibDems, I know)who CAN she attack????.
LibDems attack......to paraphrase dennis Healey......"being mauled by a dead sheep !!"
..but Quisling Stephen??....a total disgrace!!
Posted by: Colin B, BEarsden on 11:26am Sun 26 Aug 07
MArilyne McLAren is a hopeless, ill considered commentator - Nicol is a poor leader but TAvish Scott would be worse and has even less grasp of detail than Nicol
MArilyne McLAren is a hopeless, ill considered commentator - Nicol is a poor leader but TAvish Scott would be worse and has even less grasp of detail than Nicol
Posted by: Craig P on 12:40pm Sun 26 Aug 07
"One hour of physical education a day for school kids"!! Did anyone actually believe that would get them elected?..
"One hour of physical education a day for school kids"!! Did anyone actually believe that would get them elected?..
Posted by: bullyweealba, Edinburgh on 7:35pm Sun 26 Aug 07
Daddy Daddy, what is a Lib-Dem?
Good question son.
They used to be around when I was your age.
They could be identified by their beards, sandals and southern English accents.
They tended to live in little ex-pat communities in Skye,Wester Ross and curiously, Greenock.
They were renowned for their philosophy that “there will forever be a corner of England’s green and pleasant land within this country”.
Bizarrely, this land was within Scotland.
By and large, they have been supplanted by the Greens, who from similar origins, have added corduroy jackets with (fake) leather elbow patches and odd round spectacles to their repertoire.
At one time they were seen as being relatively benign, if eccentric, white settlers.
However, following their dismal performance as part of the coalition government under Joke MacDonnell, they have been consigned back to their idyllic rural enclaves.
There, they raise their rhubarb crops, and entertain each other with their reminiscing of being carried about in government Mondeo’s
Daddy Daddy, what is a Lib-Dem?
Good question son.
They used to be around when I was your age.
They could be identified by their beards, sandals and southern English accents.
They tended to live in little ex-pat communities in Skye,Wester Ross and curiously, Greenock.
They were renowned for their philosophy that “there will forever be a corner of England’s green and pleasant land within this country”.
Bizarrely, this land was within Scotland.
By and large, they have been supplanted by the Greens, who from similar origins, have added corduroy jackets with (fake) leather elbow patches and odd round spectacles to their repertoire.
At one time they were seen as being relatively benign, if eccentric, white settlers.
However, following their dismal performance as part of the coalition government under Joke MacDonnell, they have been consigned back to their idyllic rural enclaves.
There, they raise their rhubarb crops, and entertain each other with their reminiscing of being carried about in government Mondeo’s
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