Scotland ought to be debating how to fix our health and education systems and reinvigorate our economy next April and May, but the next Holyrood elections will likely be decided by distrust in politics, the constitution, and immigration, writes Herald columnist Mark McGeoghegan.

Party conference season, preceding a Holyrood election, marks the start of the campaign as parties begin to set out their stalls and attempt to shape the political agenda to their advantage. This is the point at which they start to clear the decks and focus on the issues and messages they believe can resonate with voters, laying the groundwork for persuading the public in April and May.

The significant emerging divide is between parties that want to campaign on devolved issues, such as healthcare or taxation, and those who want to focus on reserved issues and contrast with the Westminster government. You can probably guess which of those two buckets each of our major parties falls into.

The Scottish Conservatives this week focused on devolved issues, such as income tax and what Russell Findlay, their Scottish leader, has called “wacky” and “woke” policies that restrict investment and growth. These lines are familiar ones for the Conservatives to take, but their leading on economic issues doesn’t exactly tally with public perceptions of their economic confidence, which plummeted following the debacle of Liz Truss’s premiership.

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Taxation is also a relatively low-importance issue for voters – just a fifth said it was........

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