My first political memory is walking in Dundee in 1992, being told by one of my parents that if I wanted Super Mario Bros 3 for my Nintendo, I’d have to wait for the result of the election to know whether or not we could afford it.
I was 11 and suddenly interested in politics. I was too young to fully understand what was going on that night.
I recognised the names of leading political figures but not necessarily what they stood for. One of them was John Smith and today marks the 25th anniversary of his death.
In July, I’ll leave the Scottish Parliament to take up a post as the first director of the John Smith Centre.
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Based at the University of Glasgow and built on the foundations of his values, this burgeoning centre will take on one of the biggest challenges we face as a country - helping to rebuild faith in politicians, politics and public service.
Looking back on John’s life, and listening to his family talk, I was struck by the affection he was held in.
As the news of his death broke, people took to the streets to mourn a man they expected to be a future prime minister.
Yet if there’s a job bigger than that, he had it already as the guiding light of all that is good about politics.
He was loved by his family, his community and even his political foes.
He had intelligence and moral courage in abundance, wit and integrity. He had a belief in public service and that to be the people’s representative was the greatest honour.
Those values are what brings together both the Conservatives’ Ruth Davidson and the SNP’s Andrew Wilson, who sit on the centre’s board. It’s a cross-party and no party centre with a clear focus.
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We exist to do three key things. Firstly, to study what the public thinks about politics and public services.
Secondly, we advocate on behalf of the vocation of political representation - standing up for the good that politics does, showcasing the best examples and defending what is and should be a noble cause.
Finally, we set out to crack open political representation, seeking to make it more diverse and representative of the country.
We’ll do this with ground-breaking paid political internships, opening up politics for those with passion and potential but not the means to get involved.
If people are tired of the old stale, male and pale politics, this is one clear and tangible thing we can do to turn things around.
So far, those opportunities have been focused on young people from less affluent backgrounds but soon we’ll be able to offer opportunities to working people regardless of age, courtesy of a partnership with the trade union movement.
I wasn’t looking to leave elected politics. It’s something that despite the tribulations of the last eight years, I’ve loved (almost) every minute of.
But there’s a job to be done in ensuring politics is fit for the future, in the interests of a healthy, functioning democratic country with public service at its heart.
John Smith was an exceptional politician. Not everyone in political life need be as great to make a difference.
The task of the centre named after him is to help rebuild faith in politics, following the very best of his example.
