Editor – Following on from last weeks front page story Ive noticed councillor Daniel Hampsey has attempted to defend his defection to Reform UK by claiming that party politics will not get in the way of doing his job.
Hes also said that voters choose the person, not the party, a sentiment Ive seen echoed by his defenders online constantly.
If that were truly the case, one might reasonably ask why his announcement required a national press conference in front of the countrys media, flanked by Lord Malcolm Offord?
Nothing about this defection resembled a quiet, principled decision taken in the interests of Dunoon residents. It was a carefully stage-managed political moment, designed to maximise national exposure and signal allegiance to a party seeking headlines rather than local solutions.
That alone undermines the argument that this was somehow above party politics.
Mr Hampsey was elected on a Scottish Conservative ticket. Voters were presented with a party, a platform and a set of values. Reform UK represents none of those things, theyre not even going to announce their candidates for the forthcoming Scottish parliamentary election until the very last minute and even then their Scottish party members will have zero input.
If party labels genuinely did not matter, Reform would hardly be celebrating him as their first councillor on Argyll and Bute Council and their 22nd in Scotland.
The suggestion that this move is about representing local constituents rings hollow when it coincides with a highly publicised national realignment which Hampsey revelled in.
Local representation is built quietly, over time, through trust not announced at a national press conference for the benefit of party strategists.
If Mr Hampsey believes Dunoon residents would have voted for him regardless of party, the democratic solution is obvious: stand down and test that belief in a by-election. Anything less looks like political posturing cheaply dressed up as principle.
