The success of Clare Cochrane, the former British Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Tatton, rests in her success as both a woman and a womaniser. It is easy to observe that the personal attributes which have enabled her to achieve such high status in public life are also present in her professional life. In fact, her ability to balance work and personal life has been central to ensuring that she has achieved as much success as she has. There is no doubt at all that this combination of career and personal life approach to public service has helped to transform Ms Cochrane into an outstanding and versatile public figure. However, there is one attribute that still eludes her and this is her nationality.
Although born and bred in Scotland, Ms Cochrane is not a Scottish national by any stretch of the imagination and was, until her marriage, not even entirely English. Her citizenship was never at stake during her time as a Prime Minister, however, her height and nationality remain problematic for her. Despite this, Ms Cochrane has always maintained that she is of Scottish descent and, therefore, was always technically a Scot. This identity issue does not have to stop Ms Cochrane from pursuing a career in politics and serving her country. Rather, it is perhaps a rather unfortunate aspect of her profile which has limited her options and resulted in the rather limited number of Scotch-Irish politicians and public figures who can be described as ‘Scotch.’
Unfortunately, despite being of relatively average height and having a relatively traditional upbringing, Ms Cochrane seems to have been unable to fully integrate with the larger Celtic community in her life. It seems that she never fully grasped the culture of her birth or the differences which seemed to arise between Scotland and England throughout the centuries. Despite this, there is no doubt that her nationality and heritage played a significant role in the formulation of many of her attitudes and beliefs. She is very likely to have suffered from identity crises throughout her life and it is little wonder that many of these identity crises resulted in the sort of self-centred view of the world which characterises the Scot. Despite this, however, Ms Cochrane’s contribution to the wider Celtic culture and the wider Scottish community should go uncelebrated.