Ten years after the referendum that changed Scotland, BBS takes a look at the polling over that time, as well as thoughts on the challenges ahead for both camps. […]
A bonus longer read takes a look at proposals to reform the Senedd Cymru, as part of a somewhat less fraught Welsh approach to constitutional reform. […]
Six months ago the SNP were seemingly unchallengeable as Scotland’s largest party, yet an unforeseeably challenging period has left them looking more vulnerable than at any time since the referendum. […]
As the party that has led the government for my entire adult life heads for a generational changing of the guard, I weigh up the possibilities as to whether this is simply the end of an era, or whether it’s the beginning of the end for the SNP government. […]
2022 is off to a fiery start as seemingly the entire Holyrood wing of the Conservatives launch into open revolt against Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Some commentators are talking about a new political party, echoing Murdo Fraser’s 2011 campaign pledge. […]
Social media partisans like to think of voters as neat, predictable actors moving along obvious political spectra. In reality, the electorate is a messy bench which loves drama, nowhere more so than in constitutional matters. […]
After a dismal decade, the Scottish Lib Dems have a new leader. But having made a strategic choice that has backed them into an electoral corner, can they regrow in time for 2026? […]
Silly season came early to Scottish political Twitter, as charges of living in a “One Party State” started to appear. These mostly came from outwith Scotland, and the reaction from academics, journalists and politicians here has been absolute exasperation. Ballot Box Scotland was not immune to that feeling… […]
I’m not entirely sure why, but there are two particular misconceptions about Holyrood’s voting system that pop up frequently amongst journalists. AMS isn’t “complex”, and the SNP didn’t break it in 2011 – and you don’t need to be a mathematical genius to understand either of these things. […]
For a little bonus post from Ballot Box Scotland, I’ve had a look at the class of 1999. Of the 129 MSPs elected to the first Scottish Parliament, 26 are still to be found in the Holyrood chamber today. […]
Copyright © Allan Faulds (Ballot Box Scotland) 2022