Browne looks for Holyrood move in 2011

Published on Saturday 12 September 2009 19:47

FORMER Scottish Secretary Des Browne is being lined up to run for a Holyrood seat in the 2011 election.

Scotland on Sunday has learned that the ex-cabinet minister, who was also defence secretary, is keen to become an MSP.

It is also understood that, despite fighting a difficult and ultimately unsuccessful battle to stop Diageo moving its Johnnie Walker bottling plant from Kilmarnock, Browne wants to step down as an MP at the next general election, which is expected to take place next year.

Some within the Labour party still hope to persuade him to stand in the Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency one more time as it is one of the SNP's top targets in the next election.

But it is now widely anticipated that he will replace his friend and former colleague Lord George Foulkes as the top candidate on the Lothians list.

Lord Foulkes, 67, has already made it clear that he does not want to be a candidate at the next election, despite speculation last week that he planned to run against SNP West Lothian MSP Angela Constance.

The way appears to have been left clear because a top Nato job Browne was considered for has not been made available.

Browne, 57, lives in the south of Edinburgh, so would prefer to run on the Lothians list than in the West of Scotland, where his Ayrshire seat is located.

A close friend of Browne's said: "Des spoke to me a few months ago about running for Holyrood and he was quite keen. Now that the international job seems to be unavailable I think he will be keen to have a go, not least because he lives in Edinburgh."

It is also understood that Browne's inclusion on the list may be part of a wider effort to bring more weight, experience and talent into the Labour group in Holyrood. There are concerns that there are very few "big hitters" among the Labour MSP group and the party has decided not to select candidates for the list until after next year's general election.

It is believed that several other current Labour MPs who are in danger of losing their seats are also considering trying to get elected to Holyrood through the list system.

This is partly based on a calculation that Labour is vulnerable to losing yet more constituency seats in Holyrood, where the SNP consistently polls higher than Labour, meaning that a higher proportion of Labour MSPs will be elected through the party list top-up system.

It is hoped that new MSPs with experience of the tougher nature of politics in Westminster will be in a better position to take on First Minister Alex Salmond and the SNP.

This is not the first time Browne's transfer to Holyrood has been mooted. During the disastrous year Wendy Alexander was leading the party he was one of several MPs, including another former Scottish Secretary and Defence Secretary, John Reid, to be suggested as a candidate who could bring some leadership to the group.

The emergence of Browne as a candidate may also place him as a potential future leader if current Holyrood leader Iain Gray fails to deliver a victory at the next election or loses his marginal East Lothian seat to the SNP.

Gray, who has managed to stabilise his party over the last year, recently admitted in an interview in The Scotsman that he needs to raise his personal profile because many voters still do not know who he is.

A spokesman for the Labour party yesterday told Scotland on Sunday: "As far as we are aware Des is going to stand again in Kilmarnock and Loudon. However, we can't say what will happen in the next year and things may change."