Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Len Ironside: Political lobbying isn’t all cronyism but more transparency is vital across the board

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is one of several serving politicians accused of recent acts of cronyism
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is one of several serving politicians accused of recent acts of cronyism

The thorny question of political lobbying has raised its head again. It has always been controversial, yet surely it is what listening to the electorate is all about.

As Council Leader, I lobbied the Scottish Executive for the north-east to have a peripheral route round the city. I, along with Aberdeenshire Councillor Alison McInnes, spent a full day persuading MSP ministers to provide the cash for it. We were successful.

Len Ironside

We ourselves had been lobbied by the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Small Businesses and our constituents, who wanted relief from the constant traffic jams and massive trucks trundling through the city.

The Food Standards Agency was also brought to Aberdeen as a result of lobbying the Civil Service and Food experts. I recall three occasions when I gave presentations to Ross Finnie MSP and other officers on the merits of our case.

Not to mention a unique occasion when I lobbied to bring the Scottish Parliament to Aberdeen. The then Principal of Aberdeen University Duncan Rice played a key role, and was a driving force in this process, providing university premises for the duration.

Without lobbying we would never have started the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (Areg) which, at that time was led by a former reporter of The Press & Journal, Jeremy Cresswell. Areg is now leading the way in the north-east, with a formidable list of companies in its membership.

The general public have little faith in their elected representatives and don’t bother to turn out to vote. It breeds a feeling of: ‘What’s the point?’

In all of these examples there was involvement from officers and experts. Records were kept which were eventually shared with councillors, who scrutinised and approved the decisions.

Lobbying is necessary – cronyism is not

Every time a constituent came to me with a problem, they were lobbying for an issue which affected them. So, in my humble opinion lobbying is not wrong. It’s a necessary part of government. Public figures have to be accessible and accountable to the public.

What is not acceptable is people who have been elected into positions of authority handing out contracts and tax breaks by texts to old pals, relatives and friends who have specific interests, outside the normal rules of ethical standards.

Recently we have seen nepotism, favours for mates, contracts handed out that bypass normal procedures required by the UK Government – all of which is completely unacceptable. It has nothing to do with lobbying – that’s cronyism.

The public do care, rightly, about who spends their money and how those decisions are reached, which is why transparency is essential.

Boris Johnson defended Home Secretary Priti Patel after she was found to have bullied and harassed staff

We are led by a Prime Minister who appears to be a stranger to the truth. Who says one thing then does the exact opposite. Who, when an independent enquiry finds his Home Secretary guilty of bullying and harassing staff, overrules the enquiry.

These things result in the general public believing that there is one rule for wealthy and privileged insiders and a different rule for the rest of us. In turn, this undermines the very process of government, when it appears decisions are based on who you know, rather than what you know.

Consequently, the general public have little faith in their elected representatives and don’t bother to turn out to vote. It breeds a feeling of: “What’s the point?”

Make sure to have your say

One of the reasons the elections for the Scottish Government is not gaining any traction is partially the result of the negative publicity we see emanating from Westminster. But Scotland’s Government is not without its own problems.

There is a crisis of credibility in the country’s governance, and the weakness of our institutions were exposed by the Sturgeon versus Salmond debacle. The way our MSPs played fast and loose politics with the situation, rather than get to the truth of the matter was disappointing.

And now our First Minister agrees she “took her eye off the ball” as Scotland reports the highest drug deaths in Europe. She has similarly failed to address her government’s catastrophic failures in the areas of health, education and poverty, merely offering the claim that independence will resolve all.

It’s little wonder the public are not excited by this election.

Nonetheless, you have a vote. People will get the government they deserve. So, whatever your political colour, it is important that you make a choice as to who can best lead us through the very difficult challenges ahead.

Surely it’s time to jettison the old politics and start a fresh with respect and honesty?

Which party has the integrity, the ambition and vision to take us forward in an honest way? The decision is up to you, folks.


Len Ironside is a former champion wrestler who served as an Aberdeen councillor for 35 years, four years as council leader


Read more by Len Ironside: