Politics
Lonely at the top: Sturgeon, leadership and regrets
“This battle over the legacy of Sturgeon has major implications for the future of Scottish politics. Will the SNP continue the same path set by Sturgeon? Are such centrist, cautious politics enough, given the huge…
Labour and ending poverty
“When governments are remembered after they lose office, their achievements are unforgivingly distilled into a few pithy bullet points. Does Keir Starmer really want one of his bullet points to be that he was the…
Starmer Y1: what now for Scotland and a fractured union?
“Labour’s hopes, when it won the general election, to be in government in England, Wales and Scotland by 2026 currently look off the agenda, not to say absurd. A fractured Labour government and parliamentary party…
The fragmenting map of Scottish politics
“A disruptive polariser like Reform UK could reshape the system without facing a coherent counterforce. In such a scenario, the rules of the political game are not just changing – they may be dissolving altogether.”
A coalition willing and delivering change
“That’s why – in the middle of tectonic turbulence geopolitically – a progressive coalition that can see off Reform with or without the shrunken Conservatives in its pockets would be the most desirable outcome of…
Power from the grassroots
Why improving local democracy is vital: continuing a Sceptical Scot series of analyses from the Mercat Group of the Scottish Government wilful centralisation of power
The UK needs a reformed second chamber
Nicola Sturgeon announced her decision not to run in the next Holyrood election, echoing sentiments from other longstanding MSPs. The House of Lords lacks Scottish independence supporters and fails to represent Scotland’s interests. A reformed…
Insurgent, disruptive or flailing Labour?
A six-hour cabinet meeting last Friday appears to have done little to give the flailing Labour government much of a new strategy. It came at the end of a week when a YouGov poll put…
Europe’s centrists are empowering the Far Right
Austria’s thirtieth anniversary in the EU is marred by failed coalition talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS, allowing the far-right FPÖ, led by Herbert Kickl, an opportunity to form a government. The ÖVP’s willingness…
The gift nobody wants to open
Spare a thought this Christmas/New Year for the person at the Fiscals’ office on whose desk the file marked ‘Operation Branch Form’, the investigation into the SNP’s finances, is resting.
A new way to govern Scotland: co-opposition
Labour and Plaid Cymru ran Wales pretty successfully for three years (2021-24) without a formal coalition. Could Swinney and Sarwar take a leaf out of the same boat?
