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![]() Andy MaciverHerald Scotland |
“Not respectful enough of local government, not respectful enough of places and pride in places, and local identity”. The verdict of Andy Burnham,...
When I spent an hour, earlier this week, with Anas Sarwar and Jackie Baillie, I found them in captivating form. The Leader, and Deputy Leader, of...
Government is going rather well for John Swinney. The First Minister took the reins last May, almost exactly two years ahead of the 2026 Scottish...
I was of the view, in 2014, that we were living in the optimum conditions for a successful Yes vote in the independence referendum. The...
Global politics in the 2020s is a binary business. It is exceptionally difficult to be an ‘inbetweener’, as most people are generally wont to do....
Twenty years ago, in the aftermath of the federal election, the Germans were stuck. The leftist government of Gerhard Shroeder’s SPD with the Greens...
More money for politicians? These spongers. They should be put on the average wage so that they understand what it’s like for the rest of us. Give...
As a party with no friends in a proportionally representative Parliament, the Scottish Conservatives have never been particularly proximate to the...
Elections can often provide uncertain times for a country, but the first half of 2024 was actually entirely predictable for Britain. There was no...
Do you know Cammy Day? Of course you do, because of his resignation as leader of Edinburgh’s council amid allegations of inappropriate messages...
Scottish politics was terribly simple in the early days of devolution. It was Labour’s baby more than it was anyone else’s. Tony Blair and Gordon...
Let us first dispense the negatives. There was much in this Scottish Government Budget to concern us. The increased expenditure on the NHS meets...
Back in July, the words "Anas Sarwar, First Minister" seemed to be etched in stone. Labour had filleted the SNP at the General Election, going from...
In October 2002, news broke that the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation had donated £11,000 to the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency office of...
“The net zero madness makes us cold and poor”. Those nine words in a tweet from Jacob Rees-Mogg, former Cabinet Minister and now conservative...
"‘Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good" is a phrase which feels like it was invented for Bosnia in Herzegovina. I am writing from the eastern...
Of all the gambles taken by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and her Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at this week’s Budget, the most obvious one...
I turned 45 yesterday. This is not a request for comments or letters to the editor to wish me many happy returns, although, reader, you are of...
Alex Salmond’s final tweet, sent just a few hours before his death last Saturday, was quintessential of the man and the politician. Its valedictory...
It’s all looking a bit 2023 in Scottish politics this week. Headlines across Scotland’s newspapers point to the possibility of the Scottish...
What happens to a government which has been in office for nearly 20 years? It usually loses. What about a government which has been in office for...
Barring some sort of paranormal intervention, this morning we will see Russell Findlay announced as the new leader of the Scottish Conservative and...
It is awfully easy not to take the Liberal Democrats seriously. I get it. I get the Lib Dem cringe just as much as the next person. It was very...
Seventy-two days ago, Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister. It was, in a sense, a classic change election, much like David Cameron’s in 2010, and...
Helen Keller, the author and activist who became deaf and blind as a baby before going on to write 14 books, said that optimism is the faith that...
Reader, I bear bad news. You thought that, with the General Election out of the way, you could put your politicians back in a box for a while and...
Early last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Kirkwall as we recorded the second episode of the Holyrood Sources podcast’s Islands Tour. Sitting...
Nominations for candidates wanting to stand in the Scottish Tory leadership contest close today. One candidate has already voluntarily dropped out,...
James Cleverly is an accomplished man. He is, outwardly, a good politician, and those who know him tell me he was a good minister, in charge of his...
Over the last few weeks, since the departure of Joe Biden from this year’s Presidential race and his replacement with Kamala Harris, there has been...
HELLE Thorning-Schmidt, the former Prime Minister of Denmark, last month appeared on the Leading version of The Rest is Politics podcast, hosted by...