Champion of the Throbbers

No-one likes someone who makes lists of names, for all sorts of reasons.

So we're going to make a very big one.

Last night we tweeted notice of our intention to host a ‘world cup’ of embarrassing figures who have emerged in Scottish politics in the past decade. Names started to drop in along with the perfectly reasonable suggestion that it should be extended further back and expanded to include some real toe-curlers who have lodged themselves in the public consciousness for reasons which have hee-haw to do with politics.

We were also reminded that some of those who have made names for themselves in and around the political scene aren’t politicians. There are, of course, bloggers, mainstream journalists, figures from celebrity culture who made themselves prominent during the referendum campaign whether their presence was welcome or not, and the inevitable cross-over from politics to media and back again, stopping to pick up authors, lawyers, poets, singers, senior businesspeople, empty-headed ‘entrepreneurs’, dancers, tricksters, well-dressed neds and opportunists generally.

The names are now flooding in and we haven’t even done an accurate tally yet but at a rough guess we must have close to 70. 

Some of the nominations so far:

Nicola Sturgeon

Pete Wishart

Anne McLaughlin

Steven Bonnar

Mike Russell

Shirley Ann Somerville 

Patrick Harvie

Shona Robison

Humza Yousaf

Angela Constance

Alan Smyth

Graham Campbell

Hannah Bardell

Kirsty Blackman

Angus Robertson and his lovely missus

Ross Greer

Lorna Slater

Alex Cole Hamilton

Ruth Davidson

Duncan Hothersall

Gordon Brown

Jackson Carlaw

George Foulkes

George Robertson

Jack McConnell 

Alastair Jack

Willie Rennie

Jim Murphy

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Apologies for any duplication in that list but we can’t even look at the names for too long as they make our heads hurt.

If you have any to add, please do so in comments or at our Twitter/X account.

We’ll give it until the end of the week and check the lie of the land. It may well be that the undertaking is too onerous but we can have some fun with it and see what happens.

FWIW, we have a pretty clear idea of who the finalists will probably be but we will not finger anyone at this stage lest we taint the democratic process. 

Choose wisely!