How Fraserburgh dad’s NHS work in pandemic led to politics – and a Holyrood job

On the night of the Holyrood election, a fleeting thought crossed James Adams’s mind.

Could there be a series of events that turned his defeat in Banffshire and Buchan to a surprise win and silver lining for the Fraserburgh-born Tory?

While he had lost out, a win in Aberdeen for the SNP’s Stephen Flynn triggered a twisting path to Holyrood by another route.

Thanks to the complicated Holyrood system, if one of the Tories’ newly elected North East MSPs, Liam Kerr and Douglas Lumsden, decided to go for the empty seat – James was next in line for a berth in parliament anyway.

At the time, this was nothing more than a friendly chat between him and his colleagues after a gruelling day of counting ballots.

“Given that I was next on the list, I sort of joked to Liam and Douglas: ‘Me next, if any of you lads fancy going to Westminster,” James recalls.

“But it was just a funny joke. I left it at that and went back home to my family.”

Little did he know that his lighthearted comment was close to coming true.

In a stunning victory for the Conservatives last week, Douglas Lumsden won the Aberdeen South by-election with a landslide – topping the SNP by more than 6,000 votes.

And just a few days later, James stepped up to fill that place in Holyrood as a North East MSP.

Who is James Adams?

I’m speaking to James just a day after he was officially sworn into parliament.

The dad-of-two has been drawn to the world of politics from an early age, having grown up in a family which was heavily interested in the subject.

His grandmother had always been “very politically astute”, following into the footsteps of her father who was a local councillor.

James recalls how his journey in politics began with a visit to the House of Commons when he was about 10 years old.

The moment he saw the Victorian building, he was already “hooked”.

His passion for politics carried through the years, and he eventually joined the Conservative party in 2009 as a volunteer.

And yet, he never really craved to become a politician.

‘My time with the NHS made me become a politician’

During the pandemic, James joined the NHS to work as a clinic administrator at a vaccination centre as thousands of people walked through their doors to get a Covid jab.

Seeing the state of the health service first-hand and hearing of the patients’ experience turned out to be the final push he needed to enter a career in politics.

At the council elections in 2022, James was chosen to represent Fraserburgh and District.

“There was never always a burning desire,” James admits.

“That probably came a bit later, once I got involved with the party politics.

“But it all somehow clicked into place when I started working for the NHS.

“I used to hear people speaking about politics or complaining about their local councillors so I thought ‘Well, I’d like to have a go at this’.”

He continues: “I’m young, I’m politically astute and I want to try and make a difference and represent the people in my home area.

“I think it’s very important that our politicians, at any level, are people that really want to do the job. And that it’s someone local, someone who has skin in the game.

“I grew up in Fraserburgh, I still stay here with my family and we’re not going anywhere. So, you know, I really want to try and represent my local community.”

How a surprise call on a Tuesday evening paved way to Holyrood

James is still in a bit of a disbelief how his journey to Holyrood panned out.

While he had a “sneaky suspicion” one of his colleagues might go for the Westminster seat, he didn’t think too much about it following his loss at the May vote.

This was until a call a few days after the election count.

“It was on the Monday or the Tuesday and I was preparing dinner in the kitchen,” he recalls.

“Douglas called and said: ‘I’m going for Westminster, and, you know, if I win, you’re going to be sent down to Holyrood.

“My wife and I had planned to take the kids on a holiday because they had been extremely forgiving with me campaigning most of the last six to 12 months.

“I promised her we were going to fly somewhere nice and warm on June 20.

“Well, obviously that had to take a wee bit of a backseat.”

What are his priorities as member of Scottish Parliament?

Now that he has officially taken on his new MSP role, James says his priority is to ensure NHS Grampian and other organisations – including local authorities – get more funding to improve services.

Born and bred in Frasrburgh, he vows to put fishing and farming – two “key and vital industries” – at the heart of his work, as well as push for the reinstatement of the Buchan rail links.

He explains: “I’ve seen first-hand just how underfunded these organisations are, and I really want to try and push for a fair share of funding for the north-east.

“From the by-election result in Aberdeen South and then, to coming down and swearing in at Holyrood, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind of a week.

“But I’m delighted to be here and looking forward to getting started.”

For now, as all Scottish Parliament dealings take a summer break, James’ main priority is to take his family on a long-promised holiday somewhere warm and sunny.

[Source: Press and Journal]