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Curran damned by self-delusion

Beware the fury of a Labour woman scorned, writes Joan McAlpine. Margaret Curran’s speech when she actually won an election, to Holyrood last year, was as sour as a grape blighted by a sudden frost. Miffed at her reduced majority, she subjected thousands watching live on television to an ill-tempered rant about her determination “not to be intimidated” and to fight on and on.

This ability to pitch herself as a victim also coloured her unsuccessful attempt to retain the Glasgow East Westminster seat for Labour. Although the result reflected national concerns, the local campaign deserves scrutiny. Political analysts complimented Curran’s success in playing the role of doughty defender of local people. But the voters were less convinced. They opted for her nationalist opponent, John Mason, who sometimes seemed too passive for the bear-pit of a Scottish by-election. A committed Christian, he regularly turned the other cheek in television debates with the vocal and pugnacious lady in red.

Perhaps there was method in Mason’s mildness ...

Full story at the Sunday Times.