I dropped our cases off at Jet2’s “twilight” overnight check-in after arriving from Aberdeen for our flight to Spain the next morning.
But, when we stepped out of a lift after early breakfast in one of Edinburgh Airport’s private lounges, I thought I’d entered the Twilight Zone.
As the sliding doors went separate ways, they revealed an image I’ll never forget: John Swinney in person was staring straight back at me from a few feet away. A bizarre coincidence, as I had been thinking of the first minister on and off for the previous hour or so.
I was scoping out my next column about him over scrambled eggs – in the Aspire Lounge at gate 16, which seemed quite appropriate from a creative point of view. The FM and I are always aspiring to make a difference, but obviously from totally different directions.
So, you could have knocked me over with a feather. What were the chances of this happening – our paths crossing after concentrating on him so hard?
As I stepped out of the lift with my wife, Swinney bade me a polite: “Good morning.” A nice touch; he didn’t have to share this pleasantry with a mere peasant. A trifle glum, perhaps – maybe he knew the Michael Matheson story was already damaging his election campaign.
What a scene: Scotland’s leader waiting politely for my wife and I to descend.
I gained an impression he was a polite chap from various bits and pieces I’d read, and a previous personal encounter at a private dinner in Aberdeen during the 2014 referendum campaign. Yet, like top sportsmen, politicians can be charming off the pitch and brutes on it.
It was quite elevating at the foot of the lift because it was low-key; a couple of flunkies hovering near the great man’s elbows, two cops further back, looking hawk-eyed in my direction. I offered a “good morning” in return, and then he was gone.
Surely he wasn’t going into the lounge we had just exited, busy with hen dos and lads’ groups swigging Amaretto and pints of cider not long after dawn?
I did keep a close eye on the hen and stag parties boarding our flight, in case I spotted him again. I was watching for a thin, balding man of mature years in spectacles tagging on the end – in a cowboy hat or tight shorts and glitter. No such luck. What an exclusive that would have been.
Having bumped into him and exchanged friendly greetings – a rather tenuous bond, I know – I felt awkward about having a go at him. But not for long.
Michael Matheson’s iPad claims another victim
It was a few days after the general election news. So little time to save the SNP from sliding off the edge of a cliff after almost two decades of messing up.
Given such dire straits, I was depressed that his tone and strategy seemed so similar to predecessors who failed.
Swinney clumsily described disgraced Matheson as his “friend” during another flare-up over the iPad-charges scandal.
Even though Matheson looks a busted flush, the first minister blundered into the same “old pals’ act” trap as Humza Yousaf in defending the former health secretary.
In the private sector inhabited by many voters, Matheson would probably have been slung out on his ear instantly for gross misconduct, and possibly with no pay in lieu of notice. It’s different with the political elite, who look after their own.
The SNP tried to row back on its leader, but the damage was done. Swinney attempted to be strong, but looked weak; badly out of touch with public opinion over Matheson.
General election independence ‘mandate’ is back
Finally, Swinney drives me mad when he defines how he might use next month’s general election as a mandate for independence. Conflating the two different voting processes is flawed. For example, many will vote on day-to-day domestic issues rather than independence.
My biggest issue is over Swinney reportedly saying two weeks ago that the deciding factor was the number of “seats” won – not counting individual “votes”. Therefore, due to the skewed electoral process, the first minister could claim a mandate if he won a majority of seats with less than 50% of the actual vote share. A hollow-sounding “mandate” for independence.
In June 2022, Swinney used the word ‘seats’, but was forced to correct his apparent contradiction to ‘votes’ soon afterwards. Now, as leader, he is back to using seats
When Nicola Sturgeon launched this crackpot idea two years ago, even she was careful to emphasise that individual numbers of votes cast – not seats – were the deciding factor (for the SNP, if no one else).
Around the same time, in June 2022, Swinney used the word “seats”, but was forced to correct his apparent contradiction to “votes” soon afterwards. He tweeted: “De facto referenda at a UK general election are won with a majority of votes. Nothing else.”
Now, as leader, he is back to using seats.
We need urgent clarification. Otherwise, it looks like he’s stuck between floors in a wonky lift.
David Knight is the long-serving former deputy editor of The Press and Journal
Conversation