Getting to Know You: David Green

What is your earliest memory?    

I think it is in a play park in Dingwall, and I remember being very young, not much beyond a toddler, with my family, my mum and dad. I have an older sister, and I am a triplet with two other sisters. I remember it raining and us scuttling under the trees, waiting for it to pass.

What were you like at school?  

Quite quiet for a long period of it. Being a triplet, you sort of bounce off one another in terms of character, and my sister Joanne was very quiet, and Rebecca could be a bit hit or miss sometimes, so I was almost like the ambassador for the three of us. I pushed forward at the ice cream truck, or wherever it would have been.

However, I was quite quiet on the whole until probably my last few years at school, where confidence gradually kicked in, and I’ve often attributed that to things like Scouts. I spent a lot of time doing Scouts growing up, becoming a young leader, and was quite actively involved. 

I went on to study politics and international relations at the University of Aberdeen and I loved it. I graduated in 2014 and started working for Charles Kennedy just before that.  

What was it like working with him? 

It was brilliant, quite an experience. He’d always been my local MP and my dad was the returning officer for the SDP when Charles was selected as a candidate. Your parents raise you with certain values, and mine were liberal values. 

I remember meeting him when I was in school and being very impressed. It was so surreal years later to be working for him. He was such a nice man. I mean, obviously the challenges towards the later stages of his life are well-known but he was a really lovely man who deeply cared about the communities he represented, and the small pockets of advice that he’d give you here and there were second to none.  

It was a difficult time for the party; it was the run-up to the 2015 general election, but I learned a lot from that.   

Who would be your dream dinner date?  

It’s probably Roy McGregor. I’m a big Ross County fan, and we’ve suffered two relegations and the club’s been in pretty dire straits, and Roy has been quite the custodian of the club, so I’d love to be able to bend his ear and figure out what’s going wrong and what’s happening next because the club is massive for this part of Scotland.  

What’s the worst thing that anyone’s ever said to you?  

I don’t often talk about it, but towards the end of the 2015 campaign, being fairly new to politics, some of the abuse that Charles faced, standing by him as it happened or seeing it coming through the inbox or on social media, it was pretty reprehensible. I would never quote it, but it was really bad. 

It absolutely had an impact, and it did on other people around me. I chose to be careful about it because you don’t want to be seen as bringing up old stories, but it was something I don’t think reflected how we should do politics in the Highlands. We have these big divisions on constitutional issues and on other things. Over the last 15 years, you have seen greater extremities, and I think ultimately we need to be better at listening to one another.  

What’s your most treasured possession?  

My dad is called Gilmar. And during the 1966 World Cup, his dad was reporting for the Herald, and at the time the Brazilian goalkeeper was called Gilmar. So we have this autograph book from the whole team and a great wee cut-out of him meeting the goalkeeper. 

He remembers meeting Pele, who gave him a wee pat on the head and a pin badge. That’s a pretty special family heirloom.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?  

This might grab headlines, but I laughed when Malcolm Offord talked about loving Scotch pies during the election campaign because I love going to a local bakery wherever I am in Scotland.  

I’m also trying to visit all of the professional football grounds in Scotland with my pal George, and as part of the review you try a pie at each ground. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?  

Willie Rennie often talks about patience, slowing things down, and giving yourself a chance to think about it. Charles also told me when I started working for him that if you can achieve one thing locally and nationally over the course of a parliament, you’ll have done well, and I’d love to have that chat with him now because I don’t know how you chose one for each.  
 
What skill should every person have?  

Being able to think about the opposing argument is important in politics. You can’t get things done without working with other people but trying to empathise and understand where someone else is coming from, even at the end of the day when you fundamentally disagree with them, is so important for bringing people together.  

What’s the worst pain you’ve ever experienced?  

That 2015 election result was tough, seeing people losing their jobs – something that was very much on my mind at the count this month. While it was a night to celebrate for my team, you couldn’t help but think of the people, particularly at the start of their careers, losing their jobs.  

The passing of Charles was certainly one of them. I think the nature of that, with it being in the public eye, and I was his media contact so I was processing it and dealing with it all. Also losing Jim Wallace this year. He became a really good friend over the years and he always looked out for me and offered good advice. He spoke at a fundraising dinner for me last year, and I was really cut up when he passed. It was a beautiful funeral and you could see how much he meant to so many people.  

He would have been the first person I called after the election result, and knowing I couldn’t pick up the phone was quite tough. But it is a reminder of how lucky you are to have important people in your life.  

What was your best holiday ever?  

I went to New Zealand at the turn of the year to visit a good friend of mine. I’m glad it’s so far away because it’s like Scotland on steroids, and if it were any closer we’d be doing our tourist board down. It is such a beautiful place and the people are so lovely. 

The hillwalking is great and the wine is outstanding. I also popped into its parliament and took in a Wellington Phoenix football game.