Articles
The SNP’s Slide Into Summer
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. […]
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Articles
After Sturgeon: End of an Era, or a Government?
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. […]
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What If…. the Scottish Conservatives Push the Murdo Fraser Button?
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. […]
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Scotland in Detail: The Constitution’s Messy Maths
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. […]
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Nobody puts the Liberal Democrats in the corner… Except for the Liberal Democrats
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? […]
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Throwing Stones in Crumbling Legislatures…
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… […]
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AMS – Neither Complex nor Broken
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. […]
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The 1999 Club
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. […]
Articles
Beyond the Bubble – Scotland and the Independent Group
Given I spend a lot of time as it is thinking about elections in Scotland but polling has been thin on the ground recently, a look at some of the questions that should be being asked seemed worthwhile. […]
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A Local Boundary Review for Local MPs? We May Have Trouble Here
Yesterday was an exciting day for the nerds, as the Boundary Commission for Scotland released their final recommendations for new UK Parliament boundaries. The UK Government is aiming to reduce the total number of MPs from 650 to 600. Scotland’s […]