Getting to Know You: Brian Leishman

What’s your earliest memory? 

I think it was the 1988 Scottish Cup semi final – Celtic vs Hearts, I could be wrong. Celtic scored twice in the last couple of minutes to come from one nil down to win two one.  

What end were you in? 

The Celtic end. The Hearts fans in the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party] are starting to let themselves known to me. 

But what I remember of that day is the sun. It was so warm, and I was on a crash barrier thinking I was glad I was there because if I wasn’t I would have probably ended up about 100 yards across the terracing. When Celtic scored there was this massive sea of bodies moving behind the goal.  

That wasn’t my first game, but it’s the first I can remember.  

What were you like at school? 

I was motivated for the things that I was motivated for and disinterested in a lot of other things.  

I loved modern studies, history, those kinds of subjects. At the other end of the spectrum, it was computing and IT. Even now it is still a huge turn-off for me, I’m just not interested. My office manager is absolutely baffled that someone who is 42 years old is so inept on the computer. I keep a paper and pen diary.  

Who would be your dream dinner date? 

If it is a one-to-one basis, my wife, and a meal out on the town. But if I’m having a dinner party, I would invite Tony Benn and Jack Nicholas, because I am an ex-golf pro. Now that could be a quite a heavy conversation, so I’ll include Chris Sutton for a bit of light-hearted, wind-up content.  

What’s your most treasured possession? 

I’m not driven by material things, but I would say the thing that has the most sentimental value to me is my grandfather’s brother’s gold watch.  

I have had it for about 28 years – since he passed away. It’s an old Rotary, nothing fantastically expensive like Rolex or something like that. It just means the world to me and it’s one of the watches you have to wear all the time to keep it ticking. So, I just keep it in a safe place.  

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? 

I love karaoke. I’ll sing anything, I have an extensive back catalogue. 

You must be a big fan of karaoke at the party conference. 

This year will be my first time at the UK Labour conference – I have been to the Scottish one a good few times – but this year is my debut.  

But I won’t be singing because I am taking the car down there as there are four of us that are staying together about 10 miles away from the conference venue, so I have said I’ll be the designated driver. Maybe I will sing, sensibly, if there is a way of doing that. 

If you could go back in time, where would you go? 

I am more interested in going in the other direction – to the future. There’s probably not a specific period in history I would go back to, but if I look at it from a footballing perspective it would obviously be 1967, to see Celtic winning the European Cup would be great.  

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

Go with your instinct, listening to your gut is usually the best. I can’t think of who would have said it to me, but they were right about following your instinct.  

What skill should every person have? 

Being able to listen. It’s a skill that not enough people have. The ratio of two ears and one mouth needs to be obeyed by a lot more people. Hopefully then, we might see a bit more compassion, empathy and thoughtfulness.  

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

The death of a loved one, there has been nothing comparable to that.  

Another thing that made me cry like I hadn’t done in such a long time happened in August last year. My wee dachshund, completely out of nowhere, was having his breakfast, then went to go out the back, took two steps and just sat down.  

Long story short, he had an IVDD [intervertebral disc disease] and basically a disc in his back exploded and the debris of the explosion embedded itself in his spinal column. 

He’s a wee small, smooth miniature dash, called Hugo, and unfortunately, he can’t walk now. His front legs go 10 to the dozen, but his back legs have no feeling. 

So, we had him out on the campaign trail, in his buggy getting pushed along with a red rosette on. He became a real point of conversation. 

I was inconsolable when it happened. But he’s still the same dog, he has a set of wheels – he’s an absolute riot on them.   

What’s your favourite film or TV programme? 

This is dead easy, Goodfellas is my favourite film. As for TV, it’s the Crystal Maze, but it has to be the original one. I envy anyone who is in the position of never having watched it – maybe I’ll change my answer earlier about going back in time to watching it for the first time. 

What was your best holiday ever? 

Oh, easy, Argentina. We went to Buenos Aries and the steak and red wine were amazing. I was there for seven days, and I had that same meal every day and I must have come back about a stone and a half heavier.  

There’s lots to see there, there is the pink president’s palace which is called the Casa Rosada, the obelisk, and we did the tour of the Boca Juniors stadium, La Bombonera. Sadly, there was no game on.  

What was the last book you read? 

Das Kapital, I probably read it once a year. 

Sadly, I tend to read less books these days. When I was a councillor, I was reading loads of council reports and other research material, that kind of stuff makes up the majority of my reading now. I rarely get the chance to delve into a book.