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THERE was disappointment for small parties and independent candidates yesterday as their major rivals swept the board at the Scottish elections. New pro-independence organisations Restore Scotland and Scotia Future, led by ex-SNP MSP Chic Brodie, had hoped their manifestos – offering a sovereign Scotland with the EU – would attract Yes voters disenchanted with the pro-Europe policies of the SNP and the Greens. However, despite concerted campaigns, neither secured enough support to win any seats. Two other pro-Yes parties – Action for Independence and the Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) – had also planned to stand candidates, but withdrew after the launch of the Alba Party.
analysis
It would be churlish not to recognise Nicola
Sturgeon’s ability to guide her party to a stunning election victory IT has been a week for keynote elections. Three of the four UK nations (with Northern Ireland being the exception) have taken part in forensic polling covering every level of governance except Westminster. In Spain, where politics is also driven by the constitutional question and the rise of right-wing populism, elections in Madrid have provided an upset, destroying much of the political centre. Where do Scotland and the UK stand after Day #1 of the count? Top of the page: the SNP have clearly won a fourth term. When that ends, the party will have been in power for 19 years. That is a stunning record. Some will note that in her acceptance speech in Govan yesterday, the First Minister did not mention the “independence” word.
Angus Robertson will surely be a major force in Holyrood in the years ahead after winning the vote ONE of the party’s big beasts of yesteryear has made a spectacular return to frontline politics. From early on in the counting of votes in the Highland Hall in Ingliston, it became clear that Angus Robertson would be returning to the political spotlight as the new MSP for Edinburgh Central. The former MP for Moray and SNP leader in the Commons duly won the seat formerly held by Scottish Conservative former leader Ruth Davidson, who is moving to the House of Lords; and it wasn’t even close.