Even though they won the election in Scotland, the result will be portrayed as a loss for the SNP. So where does it leave Nicola Sturgeon on a second independence referendum?
- Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling
The independence bill is a short-term win but no game-changer.
The UK has delivered a shock to the world’s largest economic and political group.
Everyone is trying to claim the Holyrood result furthers their own position. It’s all noise.
Spoiler alert: we already know the winner.
The SNP first minister has achieved popularity beyond most politicians’ wildest dreams, but the problems are piling up.
Haggis and Irn Bru have long since been usurped by politics as the greatest Scottish peculiarity. Here’s a bunch of nuggets on that subject that are all too often overlooked.
It’s obvious why the Smith Commission would never work.
The SNP’s big Scottish victory might appear to put full fiscal autonomy right back on the agenda. But here’s why it doesn’t.
After the astonishing events of the 2015 election, offering to implement the Smith proposals in Scotland will not suffice. The Tories will have to think bigger.
The only way to seize the initiative back from the SNP is to build on the Smith Commission through a new Scottish Constitutional Convention
Labour leader Jim Murphy is raising concerns that a big victory for Nicola Sturgeon will mean another referendum. Here’s why they’re wide of the mark.
Not much of the SNP manifesto would make Labour choke, and some rougher areas just got smoother.
The SNP are the only major party that is yet to show its manifesto hand. Here’s why it’s probably not worth changing your plans to read it.
The SNP won’t hold a second independence referendum until it knows it can win. That is an obvious statement, but it seems to have been missed by the party’s opponents. They should be pushing SNP leader…
The SNP leader stands accused of lying to the electorate about which party she wants to lead the next government. Here’s the problem with the argument.
The Tories have been making great hay out of fears that the Scottish nationalists could cause havoc after the election. Here are three reasons why it’s not worth worrying about.
Some of Scotland’s top political scientists have been thinking about the implications of the constitutional change taking place. Here are some of their observations.
Ed Miliband may be tempted to emulate Scotland’s minority government of 2007 to 2011. Here’s why it would be a big mistake.
So much change is coming to Westminster’s Scottish component. Alas so much us also staying the same.
No sooner had Ed unveiled his £6,000 tuition fees policy than Jim confirmed the Labour agenda was different in Scotland. It shows how entrenched the differences now are north and south of the border
David Cameron might have been forced into accepting several restrictions on fracking to avoid a Commons defeat, but one thing that has never appeared in doubt is the Conservative party leadership’s commitment…
Tobacco policy is a global issue. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the world. There are well over one billion smokers in the world, smoking rates are still rising in…
One of the unfortunate things about the independence referendum debate is that it did not help us clarify the most likely outcome: the offer of more powers commonly known as devo max. For some, this refers…
In its independence referendum, Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom by 55-45%. Our panel looks at what happened, and where it leaves the UK and Scotland. Neil Blain, Professor of Communications…
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