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hurricane_run-
Smith would have been discredited in the Monklands scandal.
Maybe, maybe not ...
Helen Liddell held the seat and its successor, then John Reid kept it Labour, and meantime the scandal - which was local authority rather than parliamentary, not that people draw a distinction - had long fizzled out.
Councillors suspended, a couple of inquiries with the official one finding no wrongdoing - were there any prosecutions?
Messy maybe, but discrediting?
jsabine
I sometimes wonder where we'd all be if John Smith hadn't passed away so suddenly. I was 17 and he seemed at the time to be a reasonably capable opponent to the then government.
Maybe he'd have won a GE, but we'll never know.