Scottish Catholic Observer

Ryan McGuigan, 13, performed an affectionate impression of the former First Minister at the Scotland Malawi Partnership Youth Conference, where his performance was filmed (above right) by one of the MPs’ fellow SNP politicians. Humza Yousaf MSP, minister for Europe and International Development, uploaded a clip of the impression to Twitter where it has been retweeted more than 800 times, including by comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner and by Alex Salmond himself.

“This boy will go far!” the former first minister said. “Absolutely fantastic!”

In the clip, Ryan impersonates Alex Salmond’s reply to Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie during First Minster’s Questions in 2013: “And I’ll tell Willie Rennie what doesn’t keep me awake at night: having to face the five Liberal Democrats,” Ryan said during his impression. “Cause I’ll tell Willie Rennie this: See because he joined up with the Tories, that’s why they’ve got five Liberal Democrats. Oh, aye, and by the way Willie, Merry Christmas.”

Last Thursday Ryan was invited by Alex Salmond to Edinburgh and the pupil travelled with his mother to meet the politician.

Ryan said Mr Salmond was ‘a nice man,’ and that he gave him a signed copy of his autobiography which is ‘being wrapped in cellophane in the house as I speak.’

The St Margaret’s pupil first began doing his impression during the independence referendum last year, and has been working on impressions since he was 10.

“My uncle was my first really big impression,” Ryan told the SCO, in between impressions of Ed Miliband and Nigel Farage. “My uncle always shakes his head and nods—he probably doesn’t realise he’s doing it. I done it for my family and he said he realised he’d been doing it for years and hadn’t even realised.

“That’s when I started doing, not so much impressions, but noticing something somebody does a lot. I notice things; I’m like Colombo. It’s just a wee hobby really; a wee thing I do.

Ryan is involved in fundraising for his school’s Malawi project and Lenten appeals, and his family are parishioners at St Margaret’s in Airdrie. St Margaret’s has a long running programme in Malawi, with pupils regularly visiting the country, and assisting Italian missionary Sr Anna Tomassi with her work with vulnerable women and prisoners.

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—This story ran in full in the December 4 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.