When I saw the above, I didn’t at first recognise the above SNP potential candidate for Central Ayrshire to replace the retiring ‘Mighty’ Philippa Whitford.

I was shocked, on two counts.

First, last time I saw him, he looked like this:

A bit of harmless reinvention going on there but second and more concerning is a risk to the candidate selection process designed to ensure credible, authentic, as opposed to celebrity, candidates.

Needless to say, the National article does not mention this from only 8 years ago:

Less well-known was Walker’s refusal to even mention my research in 2014 which first quantified the scale of BBC Scotland bias against the independence movement, on the grounds, as I remember, that in his opinion as editor, I had not convincingly demonstrated that bias.

I have been open that my interim report was by no means authoritative, had unavoidable subjectivity in coding and a few minor errors, but a complete refusal to even mention it was, for me, simply evidence of the kind of wagon-circling we saw by prominent and connected media figures. He didn’t want to offend his pals at Pacific Quay.

At the foot, the National article mentions two other candidates. I know that both are hard-working SNP activists with a significant community development role and a high level of direct experience of the system at council or constituency level

Walker, is a now a University lecturer. I was one too. Academics sometimes make good academics but are totally unsuited to the hard life of an MP.