Dorrans with "Paddy's Milestone" in the distance.
The 2019 General Election saw a landslide for the SNP in Ayrshire, winning all four seats. The formerly Conservative seat of Ayr, Carrick, and Cumnock fell to their candidate Allan Dorrans, who was well-chosen to appeal to the more "conservative" voters down south.
From his photos, the new MP looks like a large-boned, hook-nosed, lantern-jawed individual, rather like the Grouty character in Porridge. This physique was no doubt useful in his former career as a policeman down in London (1972 to 1987) and as a "care and resettlement officer" for offenders (2003 to 2009). He also worked briefly in America.
Breaking into local politics as a councillor in 2012, he was selected as Parliamentary Candidate over former SNP MP (2015-2017) Corri Wilson, who had become an electoral liability thanks to claiming over a half a million pounds in expenses over just two years, in the process hiring her relatives as her "assistants" (her son Kieran and daughter Shannon -- yes, the crypto Hibernian connection again!).
Compared to Wilson, Dorrans is a much more acceptable choice, but, as his name suggests, he too is of crypto-Hibernian background, something that is extremely common among SNP MPs and candidates.
In today's "woke" era it may seem a little odd to mention family background in this way, but the SNP is supposedly a Scottish nationalist party that came into existence to protect the interests of the historical Scottish people, so the ethnic interests and possible biases of its elected representatives is clearly an issue and a legitimate topic of discussion. Dorrans is, however, resolutely local, being born in the village of Dailly in 1955 and spending much of his life in Ayrshire.
In today's "woke" era it may seem a little odd to mention family background in this way, but the SNP is supposedly a Scottish nationalist party that came into existence to protect the interests of the historical Scottish people, so the ethnic interests and possible biases of its elected representatives is clearly an issue and a legitimate topic of discussion. Dorrans is, however, resolutely local, being born in the village of Dailly in 1955 and spending much of his life in Ayrshire.
Since being elected, he has been appointed SNP Westminster spokesman on policing -- surprise! surprise! Maybe he could use some of that considerable expertise to look into the expense accounts of his fellow SNP MPs.
In 2021, Dorrans was hospitalised with Covid. He appears to have recovered.
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