Elaine C’s big secret

Terry Houston EXCLUSIVE

She’s never been a member of the SNP! H

ERE IS the big political news ... Elaine C. Smith, Scotland’s sweetheart, our very own Queen of Comedy, and a key

figure in the fight for Scotish independence, is not a member of the SNP.

What’s more, the friend and confidante of Alex Salmond, and a good pal of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, is not remotely repentant about it.

“I’ve never been a member of the party,” she says cheerfully. “I’m much more valuable to the independence movement, working outside it. People respond to me because I’m not a politician.”

That may answer, in part, two of the questions that have always intrigued voters and her many fans: why has she never stood for election as an MP or MSP? And did Alex Salmond ever ask her?

Eyes twinkling, she says: “Yes, Alex asked if I would consider it. But I told him I couldn’t afford the pay cut.” Pressed a litle further, she concedes a litle ground. “Maybe later on, when I’m older, but certainly not now,” she murmurs. But it is clear she is uncomfortable at the thought. Westminster or

“I’ve never been a member of the party,” she says cheerfully. “I’m much more valuable to the independence movement, working outside it. People respond to me because I’m not a politician.”

:Elaine

Holyrood, professional politics hold no great atraction for her. And she readily admits that the thought of going to Westminster is “terrifying.”

Closer to home, though, on her own turf, it may be a different mater at a time too distant for her yet to contemplate.

For a certainty, if she stood in the Scotish election next year, she would be gracing Holyrood’s debating chamber. The polls already indicate that another SNP landslide is in the offing. But even if they didn’t, Elaine’s political future would be assured.

She is that rare being: a public figure that people instinctively trust. It is not just her approachability and personal warmth, or the ease with which she gains a rapport with an audience; it is her integrity. It shines through. She is, in fact, a nascent Margo.

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