James Mitchell is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Edinburgh having previously held chairs in Strathclyde and Sheffield Universities. He is author of a number of books on Scottish/UK politics including Devolution in the UK, Manchester University Press 2009; The Scottish National Party, Oxford University Press 2011. He is currently completing The Scottish Question, to be published by OUP this Autumn and co-editing a book of essays with Gerry Hassan entitled After Independence, published this Summer by Birlinn.