by Robbie Dinwoodie

WE LIVE in times of political cynicism, when a loser can hunker down in the White House screaming at the world that he has been cheated, or a Prime Minister could sit in Downing Street and actually plot shutting down Parliament to avoid losing a vote.

So in such an age when politicians come to dine we count the spoons, when they say they are stepping down to spend more time with their family we check the cupboard for bones, and when they use strange, old-fashioned words like public service, honour, privilege and helping others, we have to make a conscious effort to recall a time when such terms did not turn to ashes in our mouths.

But then you look at the photograph Bruce and Jacqueline Crawford shared with iScot of them with two of their three grandchildren. The umbrellas are up, the kids are in their wellies and rain suits, but the sunshine beams out from the smiles of the four of them as they coorie in for the camera as they meet for the first time in three months at the end of the first lockdown. Cynicism about the phrases “wishing to spend more time with the family” and it having been “an honour and a privilege to serve” melts away entirely. Bruce Crawford reflected on his earliest involvement with the SNP, campaigning as a schoolboy in early 1974, the risk he took quitting a safe Civil Service career to stand as an MSP, and his rise to being a Cabinet Secretary only for bereavement and overwork to take its toll. Now, once again, he is putting his family first but he has lost none of his appetite for campaigning.

Here were his words back in February when he announced his intention to stand down. “While I am still enjoying being an MSP my wife has already retired and we have three wonderful young grandchildren for whom we want to create much more space in our lives.

“It has been an honour and privilege to serve as the MSP for the Stirling constituency as well as to have the opportunity to be a Cabinet Secretary, a committee convener, the SNP business convener and a Council leader all over the last 33 politically packed years.” When he made that announcement politicians from rival parties queued up to speak of their affection for one of the genuine nice guys at Holyrood, and it’s reciprocal, with Crawford speaking of the deep friendships he had made across the divide. He asked me not to name the senior Labour MSP who he regards as a very good friend but singled out former Tory leader, the late David McLetchie as another. He admits he shed tears the day his friend confided in him that he was terminally ill. Once, again, cynicism melts.

Crawford is certainly not retiring on health grounds. On the day we chat via Zoom he had been out for a 16-mile bike ride and he alternates that with running every other day. So he’ll be fit to campaign for his successor in Stirling in the spring and bursting to take part in campaigning in the next independence referendum.