Early next year, SDLP will be selecting their candidate to run in the 2014 European Elections. I would have thought that Conall McDevitt would have been the front runner.

I now think that Patsy McGlone is most likely candidate. Patsy has strong republican feelings, a fluent Gaelic speaker and a GAA pedigree. This means he can reach potential voters in a way that Conall might have difficulty. To some extent Conall doesn’t really engage outside the Belfast metropolitan area………and of course that begs the question….can Patsy connect with South Belfast?

There might be a contradiction here. Conall a credible runner-up to Alasdair McDonnell in last years Leadership possibly sees himself as Le Dauphin (heir apparent) and he is undoubtedly popular within the Party but I am not sure that this translates to popularity with the voter base. Besides Conall can be more effective in the South Belfast TV studios.

I am no fan of Europe. Clearly it is about more than Agriculture. But the most effective photo-ops in a European Election campaign are the ones where candidates put on their green welly boots and chat about pig prices at the local marts.

Colum Eastwood might also want to be considered. Certainly he can connect with republicans and is young and ambitious and extremely able. Yet he missed out narrowly on becoming the SDLPs International Secretary which would have boosted his chances had he decided to stand for Europe.

Dark horse? Id think that Claire Hanna (South Belfast councillor and a former International Secretary) might put her name forward. Her handicap might be that “metropolitan” thing ….she is a McDevitt loyalist. But she has SDLP DNA running thru her. Daughter of Eamonn and Carmel Hanna.

I have a lot of time for Claire…….having spent almost twenty-five years “out” of the political scene, she was the first SDLP person of the modern era that I met. Freshers Bazaar Queens University 2005. ……when she tried (and failed!) to get me to join the SDLP. We had a nice little argument. She is (as I recall) signed up to Platform for Change (boooooooooo) which is all very well but they never actually vote SDLP.

Coincidently the first person in SDLP to know the identity of “FitzjamesHorse” (Conference 2010) was Claire’s hubby. Claire of course will make it into front line politics at the Assembly.

But I think the smart money would be on Patsy.