A Tale Of Two Tommies
When a candidate declares their interest in leading a party, and appears with a phalanx of colleagues behind them, you might reasonably assume that this represents a sense of the backing they expect to get when it comes to decision time.
So it was with Margaret Ritchie, who appeared in the Great Hall this week together with Alex Attwood, Mary Bradley, Dolores Kelly, Carmel Hanna, Tommy Burns and Tommy Gallagher. The MLAs duly nodded in the background as the Social Development Minister declared her intention to succeed Mark Durkan.
The minister claimed to have the backing of "at least 50%" of the SDLP's Assembly party. A supporter later explained that if you counted out Ms Ritchie, Mr Durkan and the other likely candidate deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell that left 13 MLAs, and given there were 6 politicians at Ms Ritchie's launch that was almost half of the team.
However a rumour has been going around Stormont that the two Tommies didn't know they were going to be bit part players in a Ritchie leadership bid and, in fact, might be leaning towards Dr. McDonnell.
In an attempt to get to the truth of the matter, I've been speaking to sources close to the Tommies, who told me that as the phalanx set off down the stairs they did know what the minister planned to announce.
But whilst I understand that Tommy Gallagher is a firm Ritchie backer, I am led to believe that Tommy Burns remains open to persuasion, friendly with both the Minister and Deputy Leader and not yet decided between them.
Let's hope he makes his mind up when it comes to the vote at the party conference in February, although given that it's a secret ballot, will we ever know exactly what he decides?
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