I first met Michael Woods when he was selected to stand as the Scottish National Party candidate for the Pitteuchar Ward in Glenrothes at the elections to the former Kirkcaldy District Council in 1992. The Pitteuchar Ward was held by the Labour Party and considered to be a safe seat which Michael was not expected to win. However, Michael's exuberance created so much confusion that the Labour Party thought that the SNP had targeted the Ward and therefore 'flooded' the area with their own activists - even the Labour Member of Parliament for Central Fife! His actions allowed Central Fife SNP to concentrate on its target Wards free of Labour Party action. Michael won the seat and such was the trust that people had in him that he was re-elected at every subsequent election until he decided to stand down, for health reasons, in 2007.
Whenever Michael encountered deliberate deception he would be outraged. Election campaigns would often be livened up by him. Discussion with Michael could aid understanding about the subject and made it possible to get a different perspective on the matter. Sadly Michael died the week before the Glenrothes By-Election. He would have been appalled by the negative campaigning, scaremongering and misinformation used by the Labour Party and its apologists.
"Thankyou for your contribution Michael - you'll be missed by many."
3 comments:
Wow! You certainly know a lot about Scotland's history! Your comment over at my place directed me here.
I don't know if you noticed when you visited my place, but I have a quotation from the Scottish Declaration of Independence under the heading of my blog.
My heritage is Scot. My surname is among the septs of Clan Gunn of Caithness, Sutherland, and the Northern Highlands.
Just the other day, I traced my family's name starting with my father all the way back to 1655 in Scotland. I am a direct descendent, thus, Scottish.
Dang. I keep forgetting to click the box next to e-mail follow up comments.
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