Propaganda.

Mr Smith finds it hard to believe that some of our elected representatives would have the audacity to use publicly funded Parliamentary postage and materials to send out communications to their constituents in an attempt to win themselves more votes in the run up to an election. Then again ... perhaps he doesn't. But yet again the Holyrood authorities seem to have closed the stable door after the horses have already bolted ... and been re-elected.

"MSPS HAVE been banned from spending more than £5000 a year on office supplies following fears they were using the publicly-funded system to boost their re-election chances. Holyrood officials imposed the cap after MSPs racked up a record spend on postage and stationery last year. The £477,000 bill, up 75% from the previous year, was incurred while MSPs were trying to regain their places in the parliament."

And some of the worst offenders? Step forward ... "Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP for South of Scotland, who spent £26,465 on central office supplies ... Her bill was around seven times the average and almost 10 times the £2701 she spent in 2005-06. Another big spender was Labour's Cathy Craigie, who racked up £17,302 while defending a 520-vote majority in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. Craigie's office spend was more than triple the £5358 she used from the central budget the previous year. Fellow Labour MSPs Wendy Alexander and Jackie Baillie were close to the top of the office supplies league table, spending £14,450 and £14,649 respectively."

Iain's The Man.

Mr Smith is not sure whether to congratulate Labour's new Leader at Holyrood Iain Gray. The position is a bit of a poison chalice as attested to by the fact Mr Gray is Labour's fifth Leader in Scotland since devolution, but what did surprise Mr Smith is that Cathy Jamieson MSP came second to Mr Gray who eventually won with 57% of the vote having knocked out Andy Kerr MSP on the first ballot.

"JUST MINUTES after being elected as Scottish Labour leader, Iain Gray set himself on a potential collision course with London. As he declared victory, the former Scottish enterprise minister said that the nature of his win effectively made him leader of Labour in Scotland, not just of the MSPs in Holyrood. His comments immediately brought a rebuke from Des Browne, secretary of state for Scotland, who said he expected Gray to "respect the structure of this party".

Mr Smith sees it didn't take him long to upset his Westminster Labour colleagues. Start as you mean to go on says Mr Smith.

Bothered?

"Concerns have been expressed after it emerged that only 61% of Lib Dem members across Scotland bothered to vote for the party’s new leader. A senior party source said it was “extremely dis- appointing” that only 2,457 members out of around 4,500 took part in the contest to find a successor to Nicol Stephen. The official lamented that if grassroots supporters “could not be bothered” to return a ballot paper in a pre-paid envelope, what chance has the party of attracting new support."

If four in ten Lib Dem members couldn't be ... why should anyone else?

Vote Labour.

From the Herald Diary, "IT'S confusing, this electing-a-Scottish-leader malarkey for the Labour Party. Over at the SNP, leader Alex Salmond has revealed that three of the SNP's MSPs have votes in the Labour leadership election, presumably through membership of Labour-supporting trade unions. So who will they vote for? Alex says he has asked each of them to vote for a different candidate so the SNP cannot be accused of favouritism."

Unlucky For Some.

"THE contenders for the Labour leadership in Scotland learned a key pointer to their fate yesterday when nominations closed, giving Iain Gray more support from MSPs than rivals. He received 13 nominations from MSPs, compared to 12 for Cathy Jamieson and 10 for Andy Kerr. Mr Gray also appeared to confirm his new position as bookmakers' favourite, providing most trade union support, with 15 bodies, as well as seven affiliates."

Here's hoping Mr Gray isn't superstitious, what with thirteen MSP nominations.

Bruvvers.

Courtesy of Drumlanrig, "The Scottish Labour leadership contest has not pleased the brothers in Scotland's big unions. The unions all get a vote in the election process but, as they have never done it before, they are all now having to get a new list of all their members and send out ballot papers to them. For the biggest union in Scotland, Unite, this is expected to cost at least £100,000. "That's money which we could have spent campaigning to get the party back in power," complained one Union chief. Yet another add-on cost of devolution, it seems."

Democracy ain't cheap.

Dream Ticket.

"Tavish Scott and Nick Clegg will make a "dream ticket" for the Liberal Democrats, said former UK leader Sir Menzies Campbell. His endorsement came with that of former Scottish leader Lord Wallace, meaning that Mr Scott now has on board four peers, eight MPs and seven MSPs, giving him an unassailable lead among the party hierarchy."

Mr Smith thinks just about the only thing that can possibly stop Mr Scott from becoming Scottish Lib Dem Leader is an endorsement from Sir Menzies Campbell MP. He looks a certainty, but does anyone care?

Who's There?

"THEY'VE all been high-profile Holyrood ministers and now they're fighting for the top job in Labour. But do ordinary voters recognise Andy Kerr, Cathy Jamieson and Iain Gray? We hit the streets of Scotland with their photos to find out - and just for fun, we included a picture of Mr Big, from TV's Sex And The City. Jamieson was recognised by half the people we polled. Only one in 12 could name Gray and two named Kerr. But every single person could identify Mr Big - alias actor Chris Noth."

Who is Mr Noth? Mr Smith wants Mr Noth to be Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. At least people would know who he is.

Inhale?

Mr Smith was interested to read a brief profile of the three candidates for the Scottish Labour Leadership in the Sunday press and their different responses to the quesion of whether they had smoked canabis?

Cathy Jamieson MSP, a former Justice Minister declared: "Like many of my generation, I have tried it, but as an otherwise non-smoker I did not find it a pleasant experience."

Andy Kerr MSP and architect of Scotland's smoking ban declined to answer the question.

With Iain Gray MSP commenting that "Come on, I was student in the '70s."

Commendable honesty ... except from Mr Kerr. And Ms Jamieson gets nearest to the "smoked it, but never inhaled" line from former US President Bill Clinton uttered during his first Presidential election campaign.

And Then There Were Three.

"Three candidates will battle to become the next Scottish Labour leader, it has been confirmed. The contest will be between former health minister Andy Kerr, former deputy leader Cathy Jamieson and finance spokesman Iain Gray."

Looking at the nominations on the Scottish Labour Party's website all of the candidates felt the need to ... nominate themselves ... which seems a bit strange to Mr Smith. But given the balance in the number of supporters for each of the candidates' nominations there doesn't appear to be a clear frontrunner. This could run and run until mid-September.

The race for the Deputy Leadership looks more predictable with Johann Lamont MSP having more support from MSPs than Bill Butler who looks certain to be the also ran in the contest. Significantly one Mr Butler's supported his wife Patricia Ferguson MSP.

Double Dutch.

Mr Smith thinks that Scottish Labour needs someone as Leader who can rub more than a couple of brain cells together, but do they really need an Aeschylus?

"Scottish Labour leadership contender Iain Gray sets out his vision for a party coming to terms with defeat in Glasgow ... “A greek poet wrote "he who learns must suffer". Glasgow East was a terrible result for Scottish Labour and we have certainly suffered. Now we must use the forthcoming leadership debate to ensure that we learn …”

Mmmmm. It's all double dutch to Mr Smith, as it will be to the typical Labour voter, if there is any such thing after the Glasgow East by-election result. Get yourself a new speechwriter Iain before it is too late, or you could end up as a Geek.

Queue Here.

Is it just Mr Smith or is it very ironic that when Wendy Alexander decided to stand as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party last year the Peoples' Party couldn't even rustle up one Labour MSP with a pulse to oppose her, but that now she has resigned there are reportedly no fewer than five Labour MSPs in the frame to have a go at winning the top job?

"THE battle to replace Wendy Alexander as Labour leader in Scotland begins when nominations open today. The front-runners are public services spokesman Andy Kerr, finance spokesman Iain Gray and current deputy leader Cathy Jamieson. Ex-Glasgow council leader Charlie Gordon - responsible for the dodgy donation that dogged Alexander's time as leader - and back-bencher Ken Macintosh have also expressed an interest."

Just a pity one of them didn't have the get up an go to challenge her last year, it would have saved them a year of embarrassing headlines and total political distraction. They say that the Brits love a queue.

The Magnificent Seven.

It doesn't augur well for Ross Finnie MSP's Scottish Lib Dem Leadership bid.

"It was not the most auspicious of political campaign launches. As Ross Finnie composed himself, prepared to seize the moment and set out his vision of the future, he looked out on an audience of seven."

And one of them was the journalist from The Herald. Here's hoping things pick up for the Captain.

Lib Dem's Army.

So Lib Dem MSP Ross Finnie has joined the race to succeed Nicol Stephen MSP as Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Mr Finnie, best known for his resemblance to Captain Mannering in TV sitcom Dad's Army, at 61 is probably past it and his arrival in the contest can only be great news for other contender Tavish Scott MSP who's youth will contrast with Mr Finnie's lack of it. The Lib Dems should remember what happened last time they shunned youth for experience in a Leadership election ... er ... Menzies Campbell MP.