Door knocking in Wick set me up for a life in politics
Jamie’s Journal by Jamie Stone
I had an unusual, but wonderful, opportunity this week. Around 30 students from diverse backgrounds put the question to me: how did I get into politics?
Well, good question. I had to think about this for a bit…
The answer is not in any way conventional. Not Oxbridge, followed by an internship in Westminster. No no, I go against the all-too-common pattern of present day career politicians.
Born on a dairy farm and raised in the Highlands, I was flat broke when I left uni. From cleaning toilets at Loch Kishorn, to building floating platforms in the Nigg Yard, I did a variety of jobs to clear my student debt.
Parallel to this, I could see my more successful friends climbing the ladder - becoming accountants, lawyers, high-powered businesspeople. And yet here I was, still counting welly boots on the building site of the oil terminal.
I admit I was rather downcast and one night when I was feeling particularly depressed about my career – which seemed to be going off track – I shared my thoughts with my father. He was a wise old bird, and simply said to me: “It’ll do you no harm, lad.”
Fast forward to working as a councillor in Tain, and then standing to become a Member of the Scottish Parliament.
“Aye, who are ye?” said a man on a doorstep in Wick to me. Then suddenly he recognised me.
“Wait a minute, you’re Jimmy! I worked with ye in ‘e yard!”. A smile came across his face as I confessed that I was that very same person.
“You’ll get my vote, then”.
It seemed to me on that doorstep that my father’s words rang truer than I ever expected. To a large extent, a Highland candidate is often more important than the political label they wear. To put it plainly, who you are is more important than what you are.
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All those long years working in a variety of jobs meant that I crossed many people’s paths in the far north. All of us doing ordinary jobs, often with our hands dirty. That sense of community and comradery meant that people trusted me and – in some cases – were rather fond of me. In the words of my father, it had done me no harm at all.
For example, when I advocate for greater maternity services in Caithness, or criticise the closure of local banks, or push for job opportunities in the Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, it is because I have first-hand experiences of these issues. I know these mums that travel 100 miles to the nearest maternity unit, I use these banks and I have done these jobs.
So what I said to my young audience in the House of Commons this week was that you don’t have to follow the career politician formula. If you want to go into politics, then you could do as I did and not be put off in any way by the fact that you have done a lot of different jobs in your life. In fact, I made it clear to them that it was a strength. To represent the place and people that you love and know is a privilege and a drive.
If someone had told my younger self that I’d be sitting here in Westminster one day looking out onto the Foreign Office, I wouldn’t have believed them. I would have listened to the politician at the front of the room and thought, “not for the likes of me”.
But things are changing for the better. I genuinely hope one day someone will sit in their office in parliament, thinking back to how I encouraged them all those years ago…
• Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
