A few years ago, my eldest daughter Liv was invited along to gala day in a small town called Denny, just outside Falkirk.
My gran, a lifelong resident, had passed away shortly before. As a small tribute, the committee named in her memory one of the rickshaws that took part in the annual parade. The local paper came along to take photos of Liv sitting in this contraption alongside my Uncle Johnny, who is the local MP.
Once the pictures were done, Johnny stepped away and my daughter felt the guy perched on the seat behind begin to pedal. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the other rickshaws remained at rest.
Then, a blaring pipe band marched round a corner and filed in immediately behind her. It took a few minutes before she realised, with mounting horror, that – Glasgow-born, London-raised, Stirling-based – she would be leading that year’s Denny parade.
There are more mortifying things that could happen to a 17-year-old girl, but not many. Before long, though, her mischievous sense of humour kicked in and she was issuing a queenly wave to the puzzled locals lining the route (“Who’s that lassie, Mick?” “No idea, Mary – must be off X Factor”).
John McNally, my uncle, has revealed he will stand down at the next general election after eight years as the SNP MP for Falkirk. It has been a fun – and sometimes literal – ride having a politician in the family.
I think it’s fair to say that no one was more surprised than Johnny when he found himself at Westminster. He was elected in the great SNP surge of 2015, when voters, perhaps with a degree of buyer’s remorse after voting against independence in the previous year’s referendum, sent 56 Nats south, an astonishing rise of 50 on the election before. So complete was the victory that there were only three Scottish seats left for the other parties to share between them.
Not only had Johnny won, he had done so in style. He was elected with a majority of 19,701, the largest of any Scottish MP. He had also received the highest number of votes for any SNP candidate in the party’s history. The SNP’s fortunes are not what they once were, but he departs with a still formidable majority of 14,948.
Focusing on local people rather than parliamentary fame
Not bad for a humble hairdresser. For decades, Johnny scissored the scalps of generations of Denny folk and, as is a barber’s lot, was exposed constantly to their complaints and crises. Wanting to do something to help, he became a councillor in 2005. He was well known and well liked, and walking down the short main street with him could take much of the day.
In his maiden speech at Westminster, he pointed out that his old career had left him uncommonly prepared for the new one: he was used to being around hot air, and was more familiar than most with cuts. As a barber, he had often had to do his best with not very much.
It has been a privilege to represent the people of Falkirk in Westminster for the past 8 years.
After some soul searching, I have decided not to seek nomination for the next Westminster general election.
Please find my open letter below. pic.twitter.com/uqxOaSAa2q
— John McNally MP (@JohnMcNallySNP) July 10, 2023
Johnny had no desire to be a parliamentary superstar – he knew his limits – and instead focused on Falkirk and its inhabitants. In his resignation letter, he wrote of the “vibrant community” he has been privileged to represent: “The people are not just constituents to me but are friends, colleagues, neighbours and family.” This is a statement of fact. In our modern political climate, how many MPs could say the same?
He and I have been arguing about independence for decades, neither making much headway against the other. But he has never been the kind of tribal purist who refuses to see other points of view – he enjoyed chatting with Tory grandees such as Ken Clarke and Nicholas Soames, and worked effectively with MPs from all parties on his main policy passion, the environment.
Politics needs egos and heroes
It is typical of him that his departure was announced with little fuss, and that the news was given to the local press first. Unlike some, he wasn’t seeking front-page celebrity or to land damaging blows on anyone inside or outside the SNP.
He is the sixth of the party’s MPs to say they are quitting at the next election but, at the age of 72, his reasons are entirely personal. The weekly commute to London and the life of a parliamentarian can be punishing, and, at times, I have seen it all take a toll on his health. He also wants to spend more time with his family.
Politics needs those with ego and swagger – we’d barely have a cabinet or a shadow cabinet without such types. It needs those with enough character and confidence to go toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin or to negotiate with the White House.
But it also requires its modest heroes, who are every bit as driven, but who bring a different set of values to the game. My late gran, the wisest of women, liked to say that “if you want to change the world, get busy in your own little corner.” That’s the business Uncle Johnny has been about for the past eight years. The people of Falkirk will be lucky if his successor pursues a similar path.
Chris Deerin is a leading journalist and commentator who heads independent, non-party think tank, Reform Scotland