Stephen Daisley

David Mundell is such a mainstay of Scottish politics, it will be odd not to see him at the despatch box batting away SNP grievances or plodding welly-deep through sodden fields extolling the wonders of Scottish produce at agricultural fairs. (He might say the two experiences have much in common.) His sacking as Secretary ofContinue reading "Boris sacks his Scottish general on eve of battle"

Barring an electoral upset unforeseen by the opinion polls — we all know that never happens — Boris Johnson will be elected leader of the Conservative Party tomorrow. The following day he will be invited to kiss hands and thereafter become Prime Minister, an extraordinary turnaround for a man regarded by many on his ownContinue reading "How Ruth can save the Union (in spite of her Boris problem)"

Lizanne Zietsman is usually to be found serving up hearty lunches to locals and visitors on Arran. The 37-year-old, who holds a South African passport, has run the Sandwich Station in Lochranza with her husband John since 2017. They first met on the island in 2006, married and spent almost a decade travelling and workingContinue reading "Immigrants are key to Scotland’s prosperity. We need many more of them"

The legacy hunt is the final and fiercest battle of a parliamentary career. Define yourself or your opponents will, and so years of skullduggery and compromise, near misses and outright disasters must be moulded into a monument to vision and leadership. In the fading light of power, a valiant attempt is made to rewrite historyContinue reading "Next PM must declare the era of devolution over"

‘Democracy,’ HL Mencken wrote, ‘is the theory that the common people know what they want — and deserve to get it good and hard.’ What we seem to want these days is more say in how the country is run and, boy, are we getting it in buckets. Not content with referendums on independence andContinue reading "Sturgeon’s citizen assembly is not about democracy"

The torrid heat bearing down on Holyrood yesterday went to Alex Cole-Hamilton’s head, or rather his chest. The Edinburgh West MSP sashayed into the debating chamber in a sharp suit with three shirt buttons undone — a very Liberal Democrat. He was less Jo Grimond, more John Travolta, if Saturday Night Fever had a subplotContinue reading "Zoink! Kapow! Leonard landed blows like a Batman villain"

Evidence continues to mount for my theory that Nicola Sturgeon has entered the Late Maggies, the final stretch of a political career where hubris has eclipsed perspective. It was First Minister’s Questions last Thursday and the First Minister became irritable when Labour’s James Kelly asked her a question. She’s almost got the hang of it.Continue reading "Sturgeon launches attack on ‘out of touch’ Boris; irony and self-awareness hardest hit"

The night was nothing to do with Boris and all about him. It was the 2016 Conservative Party conference in Birmingham and in a dark suite hung with tasteful low lights the cream of British right-wingery had gathered for the Spectator’s champagne reception. The annual booze bash is the most sought-after ticket at Tory conference,Continue reading "How Boris can manage his Scotland problem"

To Holyrood, the grim final yards of the Royal Mile, for the weekly match of statistics badminton. Ruth Davidson had an ace up her sleeve in the form of new figures on subject choice in secondary schools. Calculator-bothering boffins in the Scottish Conservative research department — Tory Nerd Squad — had uncovered a 40 perContinue reading "Davidson leads Tory Nerd Squad into statistics stand-off"

Middle age comes to all of us but it announces its arrival in different ways. Some start to notice police constables getting younger. Others record the diminishing change from a fiver when buying a pint. For me, it is the discovery that I’m more square than Michael Gove. The environment secretary has admitted to doingContinue reading "I was going to deliver a managed exit from the European Union but then I got high"