Is Wendy Alexander a 'victim' of the system or did she just get sloppy?

Question

Is Wendy Alexander a 'victim' of the system or did she just get sloppy?

Answer 1

She got caught, which was very careless.. If you want to be a political leader you first must learn how to cover your mistakes

Answer 2

"The system" as you puit it was created by the Labour Party as a device to expose sleaze in their opponents. The Labour Party forced this into law using their huge Westminster majority. As WA is a major player in the Labour Party, she can hardly claim to be a victim of thier own rules.

The truth is that she knowingly accepted, and knowingly kept secret, a series of  payments (NOT just one!!), contrary to the law.

She was neither sloppy nor a victim - she tried a "Watergate" cover-up and deception, but, like Nixon before her, she was found out.

Answer 3

She was obv 'sloppy' with her manner of accepting donations which were technically dissallowable if not illegal to help fund her leadership campaign (after J McC) This in itself would have been insufficient cause to bring about her demise had she not uttered the immortal 'bring it on' phrase re the independence referendum, apparently totally at odds with the party apparatchiks in Labour/Westminster.

As a political agnostic I would say that her departure is both unfortunate and regrettable as she showed some semblance of intelligence and integrity in matters socialist and could have made valuable contribution to the life of a (coalitionist type) Scottish Parliament.

However her behaviour and remarks gave a hostage to fortune. Her discomfiture would have been the chief focus of debate in the SP rather than serious and important matters regarding health, education and welfare which is after all supposed to be the chief business of our politicians, as opposed to petty cross-party/internicine squabblings.

Answer 4

She fell into the trap that many elected people do.

(This applies to all levels of elected person from Parish Councils upwards.)

Once elected they tend to get intoxicated with their own importance:

‘how busy they are’

‘there’s so much to do in this ever changing world’ (a bit of Tony Blair there)

They become arrogant, unlistening, insular, and forget their constituents – they quickly forget that they are elected by majority to represent ALL the people in their constituency NOT just the people that voted for them.

(Democracy is great but in a ‘two-horse race’ you can have 49.99% of the people that haven’t voted for you!)

They accuse the people that elected them of not ‘understanding the bigger picture’

.

They get wrapped up in the politics of their Party – whichever party that is.

They stop thinking

.

They start making stupid statements and as we all know politicians can never say that they are wrong or apologise. When those statements are challenged they start defending the indefensible.

They begin to think they are invulnerable and then they start to make stupid mistakes.

I am surprised that she resigned over a one-day suspension that’s hardly political fortitude.

My nasty suspicious mind makes me think that there might be a whole can of worms here and her resignation is a poor attempt to avoid further investigation.

Answer 5

Oh, poor wee Wendy. Simply put, she buggered up and paid for it. Whether she did it on purpose or not, she broke the rules and under the rules of the Scottish Parliament, which are tighter, substantially so than those of Westminster, she could only ever have been found guilty and punished accordingly. Frankly, a single day's suspension is nothing.

Then, of course, she bleats that it's the nasty SNP's fault for getting her suspended. No, it's her own fault for breaking the rules.

Personally I don't believe a word she said about having resigned due to being unfairly treated. She resigned because she was getting cuffed regularly by Alex Salmond and, God help us all, even Annabel Goldie!

Labour, frankly, are better off without her at the helm; that said, I don't honestly think they've got anyone better.

Answer 6

She claims that she asked about the donation and was told she didn`t have to declare it, if she was so concerned, why didn`t she just declare it anyway.

Then when caught out she claimed she didn`t know the donation come from Jersey, but she sent a letter to the donor thanking him.

When she decided to `stand down` she blamed the SNP for her downfall, it was someone in her party who fed the whole story to the media.

How typical Labour does this sound ?

Answer 7

She was caught and tried to slide her way out of it.I think that she really thought that she could "get out of it".We are all watching you!!