7th October 2021 Comment Elections, parties & leaders Expectations of constitutional change How Scotland should be governed The Scottish independence referendum
Last month marked the seventh anniversary of the independence referendum held on 18 September 2014. Earlier in the month there was an online SNP conference – though the party is planning another one at the end of November! – while just before the month began the SNP and the Greens concluded a deal that saw […]
8th September 2021 Comment The Scottish independence referendum
Now that the summer is over, Scottish politics is kicking back into life. Last week witnessed the sealing of the agreement between the SNP and the Greens as a result of which the two Green co-leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, have joined the government. The SNP are now assured of the Greens’ backing on […]
19th May 2021 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed
The constitutional question now dominates Scottish politics. And on the answer to that question the country is both evenly divided and sharply polarised. This is the key lesson of the 2021 Scottish parliament election. For once the polls had a good election. The average standing of the parties in the final polls were all nearly […]
6th May 2021 Comment
The campaign is over and voters are now heading to the polling stations. The secrets of the ballot box will be unveiled tomorrow and on Saturday. In the meantime, what do the polls suggest we should anticipate when the results are revealed? Five polls have been published in the last 48 hours. In each instance […]
28th April 2021 Comment
We are now just over a week away from a Scottish Parliament election that could be considered the most important since the advent of devolution in 1999. Should the pro-independence parties be as successful as the polls predict, they have pledged to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence that could have major constitutional implications […]
16th April 2021 Comment
Over the course of the coronavirus outbreak, the polls recorded increased support for independence in Scotland and for the governing SNP– and the party may be returned to government next month with an overall majority, despite the emergence of the new Alba Party competing for nationalist votes on the regional list. The polls have also […]
11th April 2021 Comment Elections, parties & leaders
The election campaign has been put on hold for a few days as a mark of respect for the Duke of Edinburgh, whose death was announced on Friday. On Monday politicians of all parties will come together at Holyrood (and at Westminster) to express their condolences. But where will the parties and leaders find themselves […]
29th March 2021 Comment Elections, parties & leaders
As many commentators have pointed out, the newly founded Alba Party is facing a major hurdle in having in Alex Salmond a leader who is very unpopular with many people in Scotland. But does this mean that the party definitely has no chance of winning a noticeable number of list seats in the upcoming Scottish […]
19th March 2021 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed Policy issues
One thing is clear: support for the SNP and for independence is now consistently lower in the polls than it was at the beginning of the year. In the last half dozen polls support for Yes (after leaving aside Don’t Knows) has averaged 49%, with No narrowly ahead on 51%. This represents a five-point fall […]
26th February 2021 Comment How Scotland should be governed Perceptions of government & the Union Policy issues
The wind has seemingly been veering in that direction for a while. However, the latest Ipsos MORI poll for STV, which (after leaving aside Don’t Knows) puts support for independence on 52%, down four points on the company’s previous poll in late November, now provides further confirmation. It now appears that, far from being set […]
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