The leaders after the debate: Kezia Dugdale and Patrick Harvie chat, Willie Rennie and Ruth Davidson joke, Nicola Sturgeon consults her chief of staff. (Adam Ramsay, CC2.0)
They each had a different job to do.
At the Scottish election debate last night, the five party leaders* weren't fighting over swing voters in the same marginal seats. With the proportional election system, each of them had a different goal, and a different plan to deliver it. Each has a different electoral coalition to build or protect, and each faces threats – not just from the centre, but from all around.
