Wha's like us... John Smeaton

HAVING moved almost seamlessly from baggage handler to media pundit, via the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack, John Smeaton has the distinction at least of having lived and worked in the real world prior to embarking on a political career.

In the wake of the MP expenses scandal, the people's champion is determined to clean up politics and has thrown his hat into the ring as an independent candidate at the Glasgow North East by-election.

A newly-signed up member of the Jury Team, a loose-knit organisation funding hand-picked independent candidates, Smeaton joins a long tradition of working-class Scots motivated by a determination to make the voice of the ordinary person heard in politics.

The same principles might once have been attributed to disgraced Speaker Michael Martin, whose reluctant abdication created the current opportunity.

How refreshing it would be if a genuine working-class hero not only succeeded in taking a place in the corridors of power but also managed to maintain a strict adherence to his principles.