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Article: FIVE YEARS OF ABJECT FAILURE; NEVER UP TO THE TOP JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE, JACK McCONNELL'S REIGN AS FIRST MINISTER HAS BEEN...
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- November 20, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: TIM LUCKHURST
WHEN Donald Dewar was elected First Minister with 97 per cent support in an uncontested party election, he had the decency to be profoundly embarrassed. Dewar knew that plebiscites in which the sole candidate is endorsed by acclamation are the tactics of tin- pot dictatorships, not modern democracies. He joked that the then Syrian dictator, Hafez al-Assad, would probably have ordered more dissent.
Five years ago, when Jack McConnell won Dewar's old job, Labour Party members awarded him an even more ridiculous share of the vote. The rest of Britain laughed as the staged endorsement advertised Scotland's plight as a one- party state ...