ALARM bells will ring for devotees of the classic TV quiz University Challenge at Richard Lochhead MSP's hopeful boast that he has a keen interest in history and pop music.
Yes, host Jeremy Paxman occasionally throws a bone to contestants with a question about Miley Cyrus or Harry Potter.
But, for the most part, the quiz demands rather more detailed knowledge of topics such as organic chemistry, astrophysics, ancient Greek and modern architecture.
Those who rely on the street smarts of the campus can end up like Exeter University's 2009 quarter-finalists who scored the lowest total for 38 years.
Mr Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, is to appear in a special Christmas edition of the panel game for charity.
Although it has been recorded, the outcome as ever remains a secret. The politician, who joins a team of well-known graduates from Stirling University, may have prospered. Viewers will see on December 27.
But if it's gone very badly, Mr Lochhead should deal with it in the traditional way - avoid the union (or Holyrood) bar, turn off the TV and sit in his digs listening to - er - pop music, with the volume turned up to 11.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article