Glasgow University Guardian Article

Glasgow Guardian Newspaper article by Chris Watt
Eight hundred and sixty-seven people actually wanted me to be an MSP," muses twenty-four year old Euan MacInnes, star of documentary short Following the Ghost Road.

"That’s quite a scary thought." And he’s not wrong. In an age where politics and apathy go together like fish and chips, rhubarb and custard, or student journalism and hackneyed clichés, getting 900-odd people (and presumably they were very odd people) to stick a cross in a box for any cause is no laughing matter. But managing it in a national election while dressed as a deceased highway robber really does require that special something.

Since the foundation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the Witchery Tour Party – led by the inimitable Adam Lyal (deceased) – has been a fixture of the country’s political scene. Founded by Edinburgh ghost tour operator turned-filmmaker Robin Mitchell, the party has put forward a candidate for each of the last three elections – all three running in the guise of Mr Lyal, and all pledging to turn up to parliament in full costume and make-up every day. And now, for those unlucky enough to have missed the action the first time round, Robin has put together a documentary film made up of original footage from the campaign trail.

The Scottish Parliament: Following the Ghost Road charts the progress of the three Witchery Tour candidates so far – Robin himself, succeeded by party faithfuls Robin Bankhead and Euan MacInnes – as they struggle to win over voters in the Lothian area

"In 1999 the whole thing was evolving," says Robin, "And the reason I wanted to take part was because it was history, it was the Scottish Parliament. "I thought it was a time of political change, and anything was possible. I began to think I had a genuine chance of being elected, with the new system of proportional representation. I was convinced that would give me a big enough share of the second vote."

Unfortunately for the ghosts the party has never drawn more than a thousand or so votes, with the threshold for election as a Lothian list MSP sitting at around 14,000. Nonetheless, young tour guide Euan MacInnes was happy to follow his boss’s footsteps on the road to Holyrood, and he maintains that the campaign – which cost several thousand pounds to run – was more than just a stunt

He tells me: "I just thought that if people were disillusioned with the larger parties, it would be great for them to have a real alternative to vote for. We were going for the intelligent protest vote – people who maybe wouldn’t have voted otherwise could vote for us instead, and make parliament a slightly more interesting place."

Deciding early on that the campaign deserved serious commitment, Euan spent several weeks donning the dinner suit and cape each morning before canvassing voters around the Lothian area, along with a team of helpers dressed as witches and deranged monks. Party literature was posted to every one of the 367,000 households in the Lothian area, and recent graduate Euan found himself conducting daily interviews with media such as the BBC and the Scotsman.

But even if they didn’t make it into Holyrood, the individuals behind the Witchery Tour Party project have a fair chance of getting into this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival. The finished documentary has been submitted for selection at the world famous event, and director Robin Mitchell – whose previous work has been shown on BBC Scotland, and earned a Scottish Bafta into the bargain – is hopeful that Festival bosses will give a ghost a chance.