Have you ever taken a look at the state of politics today and felt somehow inspired to get involved? It’s not an impossible thought, is it? Rising through the ranks of power and becoming, one day, in charge of things, able to contribute your own experiences to policy instead of leaving it to portly rich white men with more inherited land and money than you and your mates put together.
You’re smart, you’re opinionated, you stand up for what you believe in… the only setback? In the past you’ve done or said some things on social media that might come back to bite you on the bum.
Well, that wasn’t a worry for Mhairi Black, the new SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South. At 20 years old, she’s the youngest MP since the 17th Century, and at 20 years old, she’s done a lot of growing up online. Since beating Labour’s Douglas Alexander to the seat with 51% of the vote share, it’s been discovered she’s tweeted stuff like:
‘maths is shite’
and ‘Woke up beside half a can of Tennents and a full pizza and more money than I came out with. I call that a success!’
and ‘Smirnoff Ice is the drink of gods - I cannae handle this c— man!’
and our personal fave (best 'til last!) ‘“it’s comin home its cumin home foot balls coming home”… is it fuck ya wanks’
And she’s still an MP. Yes, some politicians can get into trouble for what they tweet – take a look at Emily Thornberry, who was forced to resign from her ministerial post after she tweeted a photo of a house in Rochester ahead of the UKIP-won by-election. Or Paris Brown, the then-17-year-old youth police commissioner who was forced to resign after tweets of hers calling gay men ‘fags’ and immigrants ‘illegals’ emerged.
But there’s a clear difference between being a young person growing up online and swearing a bit, and being someone who either doesn’t understand the voters or is simply prejudiced.
As the cabinet is announced, let it be known that swearing a bit online shouldn’t ever get in the way of your potential political career.
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Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.