Nick McKerrell

Nick McKerrell is law lecturer, and lives in Govanhill in Glasgow. He was a founding member of the Scottish Socialist Party, and is an active trade unionist.

“In the 80s I saw the disastrous effect that Thatcher’s policies were having on people’s lives, and, even at school, I realised we had to fight back. So, bizarrely from today’s point of view, I joined the Labour Party and became active in the Labour Party Young Socialists.

“Then the Poll Tax battle started. That concrete campaign, where people stood and fought, and won, together, had a real solidifying effect on my beliefs.”

Half a decade later, Nick lead the Scottish campaign against the Criminal Justice Act, risking arrest on several occasions as the organiser of illegal demonstrations.

“This major attack on our civil liberties, where people’s right to protest was severely hamstrung, outraged me not just as a socialist but also as a law student.”

After 22 years as an intelligent and dedicated socialist, Nicky is as convinced as ever of the need for an alternative to the capitalist system of exploitation.

“What’s happened in my time as an activist is that we haven’t had socialism – things have got much worse. We’re in the middle of an economic disaster, and we’re on an environmental precipice.

“The planet is now facing the end game – if we don’t reverse the damage capitalism has done to our climate, it’s all over. The need for socialism has never been stronger.

“We need a socialist voice in this election, and that’s what the SSP represents. We’re standing as a group of candidates who are raising the ideas of socialism, the only ideas which can stop the destruction of our planet.”