My afternoon drinking with Nicola Sturgeon

This visit occurred in those heady, blue remembered days not long after the first referendum on independence. Ms Sturgeon was just weeks away from succeeding Alex Salmond as leader of the SNP. I’d arrived at her constituency office on Pollokshaws Road to interview her and suggested that afterwards we might partake of Heraghty’s renowned hospitality.

She agreed more readily than I’d anticipated and I immediately began to re-evaluate the wisdom of my proposal. The Heraghty’s clientele, like many others of its old-school genre across the city, is smart, politically savvy and not slow in proffering their opinions, solicited or no.

The untamed vista where smartphones meet social media has embarrassed many unwary public figures. I needn’t have worried though. Over the course of the next 90 minutes or so, Ms Sturgeon chatted amiably to the clutch of afternoon drinkers while resisting the temptation to preach to them or score political points.

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They in their turn received her warmly, though not ingratiatingly so. They were a mix of old Labour and SNP and no-one seemed fazed that the woman who was soon to become Scotland’s leader had dropped by. And it’s not a shop that clamours for selfies.

And so, this week, a few hours after the First Minister announced her resignation I felt moved to make a long overdue visit to my old local. What better way of book-ending the Sturgeon era?

Normally, when journalists solicit the views of the public in places like these they approach the venture with a mixture of wariness and trepidation. Be respectful; don’t be a smartarse and keep your voice down.

At all times, take ‘No’ for an answer. In Heraghty’s on Wednesday afternoon it was clear none of these would be an issue. Standing at the bar were four familiar faces: Brian Connor – still driving a taxi at 78; Pat Thomas; Hugh Connor and Bob Dow.

Hugh is a vocal supporter of the SNP and independence, while Bob, a convenor of the Celtic Supporters' Bus that runs out of Heraghty’s is opposed to it. Pat and Brian favoured independence, but both felt there were more pressing issues to be dealt with in the meantime.

Nicola Sturgeon in her constituency (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)

Hugh was sad to see her go. “She’s been an outstanding leader for Scotland,” he said, “and I think she’s advanced the cause of independence throughout her time in office.”

Bob Dow disagreed: “I just think a lot of people were becoming tired of her talking about independence all the time when we’re in the middle of a serious cost-of-living crisis.”

Pat Thomas has lived and worked in Glasgow for his entire life and knows the city backwards. He felt Ms Sturgeon was a decent woman. “She’s put in a shift, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But I don’t think the country is much better off than when she started.”

Brian Connor is one of Glasgow’s best-known taxi drivers: “I’ve counted them all in and out,” he said. “No harm to her, but she was never a friend of the licensed trade and I think she might have fared better if she’d spent more time in a place like this.”

They all have their own theories to why the First Minister decided to go now. “In the end, I think she just got sick of it all,” said Hugh. “And you can’t over-estimate how much the Covid took out of her.

No issue is ever considered out of bounds when Heraghty’s is at full throttle. Even so, on a midweek afternoon when thoughts are already turning towards Hampden Park and a Celtic/Rangers cup final, bringing up the Gender Recognition Reform Bill seems somewhat louche. We’d all rather be talking about VAR than GRR. But the gender debate insinuates itself into all the crannies of Scottish life and it emerges here unbidden.

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“I don’t think that gender malarkey did her any favours,” says Brian Connor. “And I don’t think it was a good idea to paint us all as ignorant bigots for saying there’s only two sexes. No-one will bat an eyelid in here if a bloke wanted to cut about as a woman, but you can’t just deny science.”

Bob agrees: “Look, there’s a lot of resentment among ordinary folk that politicians think we’re ignorant about issues like this. Scotland is a very welcoming and progressive country.”

Did they have any ideas on who should succeed Sturgeon as First Minister? “I think there’s a lot of talented people in the party,” said Hugh. “I don’t think any of them are any great shakes,” says Pat. “I think that’s part of the problem,” says Bob. “There’s no outstanding candidate.”

There’s a measure of disgust at how issues surrounding some refugee and migrant communities living in the area have been whipped up by right-wing, Facebook warriors as a way of targeting the First Minister. I lived in Govanhill for a few years and the cultural diversity in these streets is one of its most beguiling facets.

In recent years, though, the Roma community have been subject to a sinister campaign of racial harassment and defamation. Says Hugh: “People forget that for many decades they were saying the same things about the Irish. And I think Nicola has been a great champion of all the ethnic minorities who live around here.”

Not far from Heraghty’s is Victoria Road which rises near the Star Bar and ends at the Queen’s Park Gates. As the city emerged from lockdown I walked here with Kathryn Wylie, a young business graduate who talked about some of the challenges facing her beloved community. She’s hopeful that Nicola Sturgeon will now be able to devote more time to the constituency.

“From a young woman’s perspective, I think you can only look back on Nicola’s time as FM positively. She has been a female role model for many, standing for what she believes in and she lead the country through some tough and dark times. Although I might not have agreed with all of her initiatives, she will be missed as FM.

“Being brought up in Govanhill and Langside, Nicola’s constituency will always have a place in my heart. One thing that has unfortunately tainted my view of her was what seemed to be her lack of attention to Govanhill. This is a place I love, which is slowly in parts coming back to its previous self. But, there is a long way to go.”

Eileen Reid Boulter is an academic who has observed closely Ms Sturgeon’s work representing these neighbourhoods. She’s also come to know her away from the pitiless spotlights of the political arena.

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“Politically, Nicola Sturgeon is an outstanding figure in Scotland and the south side,” she said. “She’s a brilliant communicator and campaigner. In this constituency, no-one comes close to her. There are, of course, serious problems in areas of the constituency, such as Govanhill, and there are mixed views about her ability to solve them.

“She is either revered here, or regarded as a divisive, strident figure. But politics is a brutal world, and it is difficult not to play the game if you want to succeed. In private, however, over coffee in Moyra Jane's, she is not like that at all: she’s very quietly spoken, kind and generous about her opponents. And she’s endearingly shy.”

Further along Pollokshaws Road, near where it becomes Kilmarnock Road is the Shawlands shopping arcade. It was here, in 2015 that a meet-and-greet gathering took place to acclaim her as newly-installed First Minister. Then, it seemed, she could no wrong and that Scotland was set fair for self-determination.

In Heraghty’s Bar and in the streets beyond there’s a palpable feeling that in the eight years that have elapsed Ms Sturgeon has surrounded herself with the wrong people, few of whom have any inkling of the real needs of communities like this. No one, though, was wishing her ill and there was a quietly-expressed hope that spending more time here might do her good.

Kathryn Wylie said: “I hope now she will be able to go back to these roots and show this area the love and dedication it deserves.”