News & Insights

Another naming consultation that goes wrong. Or right. Well, the place has a name now…

The Scottish city of Perth has a long and distinguished history. Nearby is Scone Abbey, the former home of the Stone of Scone, a chunk of red sandstone upon which the King of Scots (and later the Kings of the United Kingdom) were crowned. The frequent presence of the Scottish court in the city led to it being considered a capital of the medieval kingdom. Its importance was cemented by becoming one of the most prominent trading centres in Scotland for centuries, with merchants working in France, the Baltic and the Low Countries. I do appreciate that for anyone reading from abroad, you may think this all sounds vaguely fantastical, particularly the bit about the stone, but I assure you it is all true.

If you would like to verify this, you can visit the local museum, which has recently been renamed after an extensive consultation process involving packs being sent out to schools, a video and information detailing the exhibits in the museum, charting the history of the city. The new name, selected by over 60% of respondents, was said by a spokesperson for the establishment to “encapsulate the stories and history of the building”. How could you achieve such a superlative and well-agreed response? Well, as it turns out, it’s pretty simple. You propose to call it “Perth Museum”.

You can’t fault them for factual statements, even if it is a bit route one. Following the announcement, the spokesperson said “It may seem like the obvious choice, but we wanted to hear from the people of Perth and Kinross, from people old and young, from all corners. They spoke out loud, with more than 450 submitting ideas, so we listened”. If nothing else, it shows a laudable commitment to the principles of consultation. There might be some who would ask if the consultation was worth it, but this criticism might be borne more of hindsight than anything else. Consultation when used well, is less about the end result, and more about the process. Had there not been a consultation, there may well have been equal frustration.

It’s not the first time that Scotland has ended up with what seemed like an obvious result. Back in 2007, the incoming Scottish National Party administration sought to replace the old “The Best Small Country in the World” tourism slogan with a new one. After internal work was done, the new slogan was revealed in a blaze of publicity and (as it turned out) disappointment: “Welcome to Scotland”. Much of the furore at the time was aimed at erroneous reports of a £125,000 development cost for the slogan, when in fact this was the cost of deployment. Had there been a consultation on the slogan, it would have been interesting to see if there would have been less anger.

Sometimes the practice of consultation can seem a little damned if you do, damned if you don’t, but in these moments it’s important to remember why we do it. It’s not to get one result or another, or indeed any result, it’s to ensure that we have all the information we need to make the best decision we can in the circumstances. The art, not of making a perfect decision, such a thing is impossible, but the best one we can.

All things considered though, Perth may have got off lightly. Who could forget Boaty McBoatface, or Greenpeace’s attempts to name a humpback whale, which left the poor cetacean lumbered with the moniker “Mr Splashy Pants”. The wonders of consultation!

More news

police
Shopping Basket
Scroll to Top

Your membership questions answered

View our frequently asked questions or contact our dedicated account manager for further support.

You can reset your password here. If you’re still having issues, please send us a message below.

We have many ways you can pay for your membership.

  • Credit card
  • Online
  • Invoice
  • PO
  • Monthly

You can renew/upgrade your membership here.

To find out more, send us a message below.

You will receive a reminder email from our dedicated membership account manager 4 weeks before your renewal date. This email will contain all the information you need to renew.

You can also renew your membership online here.

You can update your contact details here. Alternatively, please send a message to our membership account manager below.

Please send a message to our membership account manager below. 

Still need support?

Our dedicated Membership Account Manager is on
hand to assist with any questions you might have.

Request a callback

Leave a message and our team will call you back

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

Send us a message

We’ll be in touch with you soon.

Name(Required)
Email(Required)