A FORMER baggage-handler, who became a national hero after he helped to stop a Glasgow airport suicide car bombing, is to run for the House of Commons.
John Smeaton is aiming to fill a vacancy left by former speaker Michael Martin, who quit over the MPs’ expenses scandal.
Mr Smeaton is to contest the Glasgow North-East constituency, one of the UK’s most deprived, following an approach by an organisation run by a leading ex-Tory who is backing independent candidates. Promising to “bring a storm down on Westminster”, Mr Smeaton, who writes a column for the Scottish edition of the Sun, said: “I’m angry and I’m fed up by the way politicians have been behaving. Like everybody I was shocked by the fiddling by the MPs.”
In 2007 Mr Smeaton was outside the airport’s main door when Kafeel Ahmed and Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah rammed a four-wheel drive that erupted into flames, but did not explode, into the building.
Ahmed was badly burnt and died days later in Glasgow Royal Infirmary Hospital, while Abdullah – who was tackled by Mr Smeaton and a policeman – was convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions and was sentenced to 32 years in jail.
Mr Smeaton’s life was changed by the event. He received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal, met prime minister Gordon Brown in Downing Street and was feted by Glasgow Rangers supporters at an Ibrox match.
Mr Smeaton hopes to capitalise on anti-politicians sentiment after the expenses scandal. He is the first candidate selected by the independents’ group, Jury Team.
It was founded earlier this year by the former director-general of the Conservative Party, Paul Judge, although the 59 candidates it ran in the European Parliament elections in July won just 80,000 votes between them.
The byelection caused by Mr Martin’s resignation should be held later this year, although the Labour Party refused to move the necessary writ before the House of Commons summer recess.
Vowing to shake up Westminster politics, Mr Smeaton said: “I’ll bring a storm down on Westminster, knock down doors and badger them until they listen, no messing.”
So far, local bookmakers are not convinced about his chances, putting him as third favourite at 8/1 to win the seat, behind Labour candidate William Bain, who is 4/6, and David Kerr of the Scottish National Party, who is at 5/4.
Jury Team believes that the existing political party system leads to “misconduct and waste” and that all MPs should be elected and remain as independents, while the public should decide major issues by referendum.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph, which first published details of MPs’ expense abuses, revealed that the still-unidentified source had been angered about the British government’s treatment of British soldiers in Afghanistan.
Editor Andrew Pierce said it paid £110,000 for the files – which had been rejected by the London Times and the Sun. “It blew our minds when we saw what was in that file,” he said.