Lynn Hannah
Executive support and office manager
At 8am the Saturday before last I dropped my husband off in the centre of Dunfermline, losing sight of him as he merged seamlessly into the sea of black and white football shirts streaming onto the convoy of buses bound for Hampden. Three generations of my family on their way to watch their beloved football team compete in a Scottish Cup semi-final for the first time in 19 years – four of whom had never had the experience before, one of whom never thought they’d see it again.
As the final penalty hit the back of the net and sealed Dunfermline’s win, manager Neil Lennon fell to his knees, the magnitude of it written on his face. In his interview shortly afterwards he spoke of his pride in the players; his passion for the club, the team, his job, the game, evident in his words and energy.
As I listened, it was clear to me that the success of the team was the result of great leadership. Lennon has the respect of the players, the background team, the owners and the fans. Why? He is experienced and knowledgeable, yes, but he bolsters his wisdom with passion, and it’s passion that unites.
Anyone who has completed a psychometric test or had any kind of HR training will have heard of the particular traits needed to be a great leader: integrity, emotional intelligence, vision. But without passion, will a kind, generous, resilient leader inspire anyone to follow?
By their very energy, passionate people raise anticipation and inspire action to bring about change. They champion causes, they persuade people to donate, they bring a team together and dare people to believe that life can be different – they change workspaces and forge new pathways in business, science and creative industries. Yet in 2026, I have yet to see a Scottish political leader with enough passion to convince voters their X matters on polling day. The Scotsman recently warned of the “scunner factor” – a sense that voters have become so disillusioned they’re inclined to wish a plague on all their houses.
Scottish politics has known passionate leaders. Whatever you thought of their politics, Alex Salmond during the 2014 referendum, or Donald Dewar opening the first Scottish Parliament, or Margo MacDonald on almost any subject – they spoke with conviction that travelled through a television screen. Today’s leaders – Swinney, Sarwar, Findlay, Cole-Hamilton – are capable, prepared, professional. But passionate? That’s a harder case to make.
Vision is important for progress; people need to be able to visualise what the plan is and how they can contribute to it, but they also need to be excited by it and understand why it matters. Yes, of course there needs to be strategy and process and due diligence – but the passionate motivation of a leader should get hearts racing, set imaginations on fire and put players on the pitch ready to win.
Scotland is full of skilled and talented people, it has globally renowned produce, landscapes that catch your breath, we have made technological and scientific discoveries and have creative flair – we should be flying and yet it sometimes feels like we are on our knees and every other week another Scottish business is in decline. Scotland has challenges and it needs seriously passionate people to resolve them.
A record 42 MSPs stood down from the Scottish Parliament this month, and the hope is that the new blood in Holyrood in May will bring fresh purpose to the collective. How many of them have enough fire to ensure that purpose works in favour of constituents, businesses and the national economy remains to be seen.
Maybe instead of appeasement we need a rallying cry. Instead of pointing the finger at opponents and crying ‘foul!’, we need to see our representatives taking decisive action and responsibility for the future we want, running towards the goal. Instead of handling us with kid gloves, or treating us like children to be entertained with funny videos, they need to treat us like grown ups. They can explain the need for difficult decisions, and why they matter – but they need to do it passionately, and take us with them.
On 7 May, voters will be looking for someone who believes in what they’re asking us to believe in. If our politicians need an example, they can always look to Neil Lennon.