The SNP, who met this week at their annual conference in Aberdeen, are by far the leading party in Scotland. Yet their dominance can be overstated, it being aided by the fragmentation of multi-party politics, divided opposition and the negatives of Labour and Tories. The most recent Panelbase poll put the SNP on Westminster voting intentions on 39%, up 2.1% on 2017, with the Tories on 21% (-7.6%), Labour 20% (-7.1%) and Lib Dems 13% (+6.2%); on a national swing this would give the SNP 48 seats (+13), Tories 5 (-8), Lib Dems 5 (+1) and Labour one (-6).
Steve Richards’ recent book ‘The Prime Ministers: Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to May’ cites Tony Benn’s idea of politicians who change the political weather as ‘teachers’. Sad to say none of the current politicians in this land would qualify as such leaders. Who were the last teachers in our politics? Alex Salmond and Gordon Brown to an extent; Tommy Sheridan on the margins; maybe Jim Sillars and Margo MacDonald would qualify too. It is obvious from this list that sometimes such a role comes with baggage, hubris and the propensity to self-destruct. But for a nation that prides itself on its idealism we have been short of politicians who have successfully transformed attitudes.
Mandates aren’t legal entities – they are perishable and need renewal
On the surface Sturgeon’s announcement on Sunday that she will request a Section 30 order before the end of the year felt significant. Section 30 is the part of the Scotland Act 1998 which allows a ‘constitutional issue’ (such as holding another independence referendum) to be temporarily devolved. But the reality is now very different. Sturgeon has spent the last two and a half years advancing an indyref in a series of false starts, mixed signals and playing for time, which has looked often like the negation of being a leader.
