What Is Target 59?
Target 59 is a concept, a vision, that might become a project giving Yes voters the power to pack a knockout punch using the First Past The Post voting system against the No/Vow parties at the General Election on the 7th of May 2015. The target is to send a band of 59 brothers and sisters to the Westminster Parliament, committed to gain the best for Scotland and to hold the No/Vow parties to account on Home Rule powers.
Ideally the Yes parties, (Scottish Greens, Scottish Nationalists, Scottish Socialists and others who want to also affiliate), agree, assist, enable, facilitate and support ‘YES Scotland’ through the formalities and registration process with the Electoral Commission to have this as a candidate’s party description on the ballot papers in all 59 Scottish UK Parliament Constituencies, using the ‘YES’ twibbon roundel as a logo.
It may not be practical to set up a fully integrated organisation in so few months or not even be desirable for the affiliates. However those Yes parties can agree not to stand candidates under their own party names, but to furnish candidates, campaigns and deposits for ‘Yes Scotland’.
A crude division of constituencies might be for the Scottish Greens to provide these for those eleven currently held by Liberal Democrats and the one held by the Conservatives. While the Scottish Nationalists would do the same for the forty-one Labour held. They would also fight the six they have, although upon successful registration with the Electoral Commission for publicity purposes they would ‘defect’ to ‘Yes Scotland’.
Some consideration to finding seats for people like Tommy Sheridan, if they want it, should be given. The need for an articulate non-politician ‘leader’ is self evident and Elaine Smith would be pretty good, again if she’d be willing to stand in a seat.
The horse trading on seats is relatively simple compared to finance. The affiliated parties would proportionately, according to membership numbers, guarantee the liabilities of ‘Yes Scotland’, which would have some administrative costs, but to be kept very lean. It might take at least £15 million to mount winning campaigns in all 59 constituencies. The division of this burden and of any donations given to ‘Yes Scotland’ would be difficult to say the least.
So Maggie Chapman, Patrick Harvie, Tommy Sheridan and Nicola Sturgeon take up the challenge and show that Scotland produces leaders with the ability to put the nation’s interests above party advantage. The obstacles are not insurmountable and the prize of sending 59 ‘Yes Scotland’ MPs to Westminster is truly glittering.
