Shortly after Q Manivannan contrived to find a berth as an elected politician in Scotland, the self-described ‘queer Tamil immigrant’ gave a triumphant interview on Indian TV.
asserted
immigrant → contrive → TV
It was riddled with statements that made me despair of the political process which had ushered a self-absorbed social media influencer into a £77,711-a-year job as an MSP.
asserted
which → riddle → MSP
Manivannan, a biological male who insists on they/them pronouns (and which I, through gritted teeth, accord them here) claimed that they had always been open with their party, the Scottish Greens, and the electorate.
asserted
they → insist → party
They contended there were ‘tens of thousands of people who decided to support me’ who ‘thought that I could adequately represent them’.
uncertain
I → contend → them
The truth is there were hundreds of thousands in the electoral region of Edinburgh and Lothians East who had no idea that a non-UK national on a student visa due to expire at the end of 2026 was even running for the Scottish parliament.
asserted
national → be → parliament
A key reason they did not know about this was Manivannan was not contesting any specific seat within the electoral region.
asserted
Manivannan → know → region
Instead, they were bolted on as a list candidate whose success or failure in the quest to be elected as an MSP would rest on the overall number of votes won by the Greens across the nine constituencies in the region.
asserted
success → bolt → region
Q Manivannan has now targeted the rector's position at St Andrews
Consequently, their name did not appear on any ballot paper in polling stations in that area.
asserted
name → target → area
On the regional lists you put your X against a party, not a candidate.
asserted
you → put → party
This seemed to me at the time the very antithesis of open-ness.
asserted
This → seem → ness
If a person wishes to stand to become one of our legislators, then he or she (or, if you must, they) should put themselves forward in the first-past-the-post ballot or we should not take them at all seriously.
asserted
we → wish → them
The second part of Manivannan’s claim – that tens of thousands of Lothians folk had consciously decided they could adequately represent them, becomes laughable in the circumstances.
uncertain
they → decide → circumstances
The only thing which, in their naivety, they had consciously decided was to vote Green.
In any case the MSP has spent the last five months proving only that inadequate representation is what you get from a raven-maned narcissist with little interest in the bread-and-butter issues affecting the electorate.
asserted
you → decide → electorate
Since settling into their office at Holyrood in early May, they have not held a single constituency surgery.
uncertain
they → settle → surgery
The whole purpose of these surgeries is to provide a face-to-face conduit between MSPs and the voters they serve.
asserted
they → provide → MSPs
It is about listening to their concerns – whether on potholes, uncollected bins, damp council flats or a litany of other unglamorous grievances that may or may not reflect the politician’s ideological preoccupations.
uncertain
that → listen → preoccupations
Often MSPs are asked to intervene on their constituents’ behalf.
asserted
MSPs → ask → behalf
Many do.
asserted
Many → do → ?
We sometimes hear their complaints aired in the parliamentary chamber.
asserted
complaints → hear → chamber
How on earth does Q Manivannan suppose they are representing constituents when the surgery door remains closed to them?
asserted
door → suppose → them
The MSP had previously claimed to be busy appointing parliamentary staff.
asserted
MSP → claim → staff
More recently, a spokesman for the Scottish Greens had this to say: ‘Q is in the process of organising surgeries for gig workers in Edinburgh and will have more across the region in the months ahead, with regular scheduled surgeries in the new year.’
asserted
Q → have → year
If you happen to be a Deliveroo rider then, the politician may have space for you in the next few weeks.
uncertain
politician → happen → weeks
If you’re a pensioner navigating winter fuel payment cuts or languishing on a hip replacement waiting list, your suffering is not sufficiently on trend for a spot on this year’s calendar.
asserted
suffering → ’re → calendar
All this is already beyond unforgivable in an elected representative.
asserted
this → elect → representative
Here is where it gets a whole lot worse.
asserted
gets → get → ?
While Manivannan apparently struggles to locate a spare hour in their diary to fulfil the most basic responsibilities, they have somehow cleared a large enough expanse of time to mount a campaign for rector of St Andrews University.
asserted
they → struggle → University
The audacity is breathtaking – and the idea that a politician who cannot summon the will to do the day job should be rewarded by landing a second influential role is repellent.
asserted
who → summon → role
One might imagine that a comparatively recent arrival, finding themselves gave a seat in the Scottish parliament, would feel a certain weight of responsibility to at least comprehend the nation they seek to govern, to get to grips with the everyday crises of the people.
uncertain
they → imagine → people
Manivannan does not dirty their hands with any of that.
asserted
Manivannan → dirty → that
Instead, they treat our democracy as a touring theatre for performative identity politics – and having successfully bagged one stage, they are already hunting for the next.
asserted
they → treat → next
Manivannan has no desire to serve voters or the students of St Andrews; they desire only to lecture them on their own narrow agenda.
And yet, even within the niche parameters of their own politics, Manivannan has shown themselves to be a deeply muddled character.
asserted
themselves → have → politics
In August, they attempted to explain to a horrified Scottish public that rape exists ‘on a spectrum’ and rapists should not be ‘demonised’.
asserted
rapists → attempt → spectrum
‘Any individual’, they said is capable of it.
asserted
they → say → it
The backlash was as predictable as their subsequent whimpering that they were quoted out of context.
asserted
they → quote → context
Rape is not a subject anyone, least of all a politician, should frame in ambiguity.
asserted
Rape → frame → ambiguity
Even if all this was a slip of the tongue which just happened to go on for several minutes, Manivannan had longer to consider their support for Mridul Wadhwa – another biological male – who, for a disastrous spell, was the CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre.
asserted
who → happen → Centre
Back in May, Wadhwa (who insists on she/her pronouns) stood on the same regional list as Manivannan did and they were fulsome in their praise of her.
uncertain
they → insist → her
Not so long before that she lectured victims of rape to ‘reframe your trauma’ if they objected to being assigned a counsellor who, like her, was a biological man.
asserted
who → lecture → her
What is it with these extremists who elevate their own precious gender identity to the point of absolute moral blindness?
asserted
who → elevate → blindness
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
