Alec Clark, independent deputy leader of South Ayrshire Council
Trump’s presence will generate global attention — but Alec Clark will have to deal with the local reaction long after the president has jetted back to America. The independent deputy leader of South Ayrshire Council, whose ward includes Trump Turnberry, is in a sunny mood about the trip, praising the funds that Trump’s company has plowed into the tiny rural village.
“The actual investment that goes into Turnberry year after year, week after week, day after day, is tremendous,” Clark says, lauding the more than 400 people employed “in a rural area where every job is like gold dust.”
The estate unsurprisingly became a huge attraction after Trump entered politics, and Clark has noticed that “tourists are stopping there to take photographs of the hotel.” He ascribes Trump’s “sympathetic stance” toward Scotland to his mother’s Scottish roots.
As police prepare for protests, Clark defends such dissent as “one of the things you’ve got to handle” in a democracy. “It’s only courteous to listen, because people can protest … but the only way to make a difference is to discuss,” he reflects.
If Trump does have some time away from the golf buggy, Clark reckons he should pop along to the Robert Burns museum in Alloway, a suburb north of Turnberry, to learn more about the poet and view some original manuscripts. “Burns is history,” Clark says. “Burns is the National Bard of Scotland. He’s known all over the world.”
Brian Whittle, Tory Scottish Parliament member (MSP) for South Scotland
Brian Whittle is no stranger to presidential big beasts rolling into town. Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament to represent South Scotland — which includes Turnberry — the Conservative MSP ran an event management company that organized a visit to Glasgow by Bill Clinton.