Ibrox’s incoming chairman is moving from one banana republic to another.

Yesterday, I wrote about the alleged incoming Ibrox chairman, who the media is laughably describing as a “political heavyweight.” This, apparently, is because he was politically active once upon a time. I did some digging today and discovered more about him. Brace yourselves—he’s a failed Tory list candidate for the Scottish Parliament. He also co-founded a group during the 2014 independence referendum called No Borders.

Let’s start with No Borders. A bit of background first: it turns out this was one of countless organisations that sprang up like weeds during that campaign.

Here’s how it works during a major vote like a referendum. Two officially designated campaigns—one for each side—are given privileges like airtime, the ability to hold major events, and attracting the backing of MPs and other big names. Importantly, their spending is capped, so neither can run wild with dark money. That’s the theory, anyway.

But what actually happens, as we saw in both the Scottish referendum and with Brexit, is that smaller, unofficial groups mushroom out of nowhere. During Brexit, one of those groups was led by Nigel Farage and funded by Aaron Banks; remember that piece I did on the Uncivil War? This is an example of what I was talking about.

These groups mostly operate in the shadows, often with minimal transparency about their funding or who’s pulling the strings. Some of them are actually much more connected to the “official” campaigns than people are letting on, and some of their funding sources are identical. But they aren’t subject to the same rules as the official campaigns and can spend as much as they want, influencing debates with no oversight.

No Borders was one of those outfits. It wasn’t part of the official No campaign but operated independently, much like dozens of other groups. There were similar organisations on the Yes side, to be fair, but let’s not kid ourselves: when the establishment is fighting to preserve the status quo, that’s where most of these organisations spring up.

So yes, I’ll concede he has a history of political activism.

But let’s be realistic. Setting up some website and calling yourself a campaign isn’t the same thing. Getting on a Scottish Parliament candidate list isn’t exactly front-page news either. In fact, it’s about as low a bar as you can set. I know plenty of people who’ve been on the Scottish Parliament list, many of them with no chance at all of winning a seat. A lot of these people ae total non-entities. Some are there as favours, some to gain a bit of experience and others simply to raise their profile within the party. It’s not a stride onto the big stage, more like an audition in the back room of a pub.

And then there’s his peerage. This is where things get really grubby. I said yesterday he bought it, and the details only reinforce that. He donated £147,000 to the Conservative Party and was promptly given a seat in the House of Lords by Boris Johnson, in one of the most scandal plagued honours lists we’ve ever seen in this country.

A Labour source at the time didn’t hold back, and their words deserve repeating in full:

“In some sense, this is to be welcomed. There’s no longer the pretence of having to WhatsApp a Minister to win a contract you aren’t qualified for. Instead, we see the more honest approach—if you just give the Conservative Party enough of your money, they’ll pay you back with some of the public’s. This is cronyism which would shame a banana republic.”

And that’s the extent of his so-called “political heavyweight” credentials: a failed attempt to get elected and a peerage bought through donations.

Not exactly Winston Churchill, is he?

Predictably, though, the spin is already in full flow.

Stephen McGowan is waxing lyrical about how Ibrox has finally landed some political muscle at the top of the house; exactly the sort of sorry stuff I predicted yesterday. He’s also going on about their new ex-Manchester United CEO as if he’s about to revolutionise Scottish football. The PR machine is working overtime to present this as some kind of watershed moment.

But let’s not get carried away. This incoming chairman has no experience in football. His primary qualifications appear to be his Uber-Unionist credentials, which make him the ideal figurehead for that particular club. Because let’s face it, over there, it’s never really about competence. It’s about ticking the right ideological boxes.

And this is where they always trip themselves up.

When you fish in a shallow pond, you’re going to struggle to land the best people. Because you’re less interested in someone qualified than you’re looking for someone who fits your worldview. That’s why they’ve ended up with this guy—a man whose elevation to the Lords was described as something straight out of a banana republic.

And let me repeat; we had men of real calibre on our board, and we had them there at a time when their contacts book extended into actual influence. When Celtic had figures like John Reid and Brian Wilson on the board, Labour was in power. These were individuals with real political influence. Even Ian Livingston, who sat on our board, was able to vote with the government in Parliament on the controversial benefit cuts because the Tories were in office.

This guy, though? What possible good could links to the fallen Johnson regime do him now? The Tories just suffered a historic collapse at Westminster, and his links to that fading political machine won’t do the club one bit of good as a result of that.

It’s just like them to bring in a guy with connections when those connections are about as useless as those on a dud battery.

And yet, the media will keep pretending otherwise.

But this is about ideology as much as anything else. This is about finding a chairman who was more about staunchness than suitability. They went for someone they could sell to the fans, and it’s really as simple as that. He’s a good ideological fit.

It’s the same old song and dance. They’ve always been an exclusionary club, built on narrow-mindedness and division. That’s why they continually limit their own growth and potential. They’re stuck in the past, and their obsession with ideology over progress will always hold them back.

But do you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing. Because as long as they stay like this—floundering, stuck in their ways—we’ve got them exactly where we want them.