HOW VETTING HAS CHANGED

AND NOT FOR THE BETTER.

It is one of the most important jobs in politics. It determines who the candidates will be for your Party.

In Scotland at the moment it probably means picking the next Government. So it’s a very important task and it is crucial it is carried out fairly and without bias.

Back in the day I served on the Vetting Committee and I frequently supported the applications of people who represented different views and strategies to my own. My consideration was solely “Is this person a credible and capable person who can represent the Party effectively in any election contest and would be a diligent MP?”

How the process worked at that time was the Party created a Central Approved Candidates List, once you were on the list you could approach constituencies you were interested in. Likewise Constituencies had access to the list and could contact…