Stephen Daisley

Neil Findlay has no business being a politician. The brickie turned housing officer turned teacher turned MSP didn't come up through the special adviser/policy wonk ranks like so many parliamentarians today. And it shows. He doesn't talk like a career politician, in it for power and position. That sincerity shouldn't be confused for the poisonousContinue reading "Neil Findlay outlines his vision for a socialist Scotland"

Jim Murphy loves Scotland. I know this because he assures me of it at least a dozen times in a half-hour interview. Scotland is his country. He’s proud of it. He intends to do well by it. Asked why he wants to lead Scottish Labour, the first thing he says is: "It sounds trite, butContinue reading "Interview: Jim Murphy on patriotism, socialism and Labour’s future"

“There are no second acts in American lives,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once lamented. As an admirer of the American political scene – he idolises Robert F Kennedy and his “strain of moral commitment” – Gordon Brown could have been forgiven for assuming his defeat at the 2010 general election would similarly curtail his political career.Continue reading "Gordon Brown: A flawed giant who got a rare second act in political life"

If Twitter is where nuance goes to die, Facebook is where crazy lets its hair down. The unrestricted post-length allows the angry and the aggrieved to inveigh until their heart’s content. Into this social media bear pit stepped Sarah Boyack, Lothian MSP and contender for Scottish Labour leader, in a live question and answer sessionContinue reading "Facebook Q&A and interview: Scottish Labour candidate Sarah Boyack"

It's Wednesday, so David Torrance has a new book out. The hipster historian is the Scottish commentariat's answer to Dame Barbara Cartland, though his similarly prolific output comes without those glorious lashings of fragrant fuchsia. We think. La Torrance's latest effort is 100 Days of Hope and Fear: How Scotland's Independence Referendum was Lost andContinue reading "A sneak peek at David Torrance’s independence referendum diary"

At some point after setting up the Scottish Parliament, Labour forgot that it had done so. The party that was the political driving force behind the Scottish Constitutional Convention and that campaigned on and delivered the most far-reaching constitutional change since the Fifth Reform Act, became complacent and began to drift. There were dedicated LabourContinue reading "Leadership debate returns Labour to the devolutionist cause"

PERTH, United Kingdom You were supposed to take two messages from Nicola Sturgeon’s first conference speech as leader of the Scottish National Party. First, independence remains very much on the agenda and the constitutional question will rumble on. Second, hers will be a party and a Scottish Government that drives its tanks onto Scottish Labour’sContinue reading "Sturgeon’s attack on Labour foreshadows the next election"

PERTH, United Kingdom Here in Perth, the SNP is basking in the glory of its referendum defeat. Where its opponents expected the Nationalists to sink into in-fighting and bitter recriminations, the party has never been in better shape. A membership boost of 65,000 has made it the third largest party in the UK and theContinue reading "Welsh nationalists look to Scotland for a way forward"

Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. Nicola Sturgeon took the stage in Perth on Friday to rapturous applause. She had just been announced as the new leader of the SNP, elected unopposed to replace Alex Salmond. It is rare in UK politics for an outgoing party leader who is overwhelmingly popular among members to beContinue reading "Nicola Sturgeon is a tenacious leader for a party that won’t back down"

PERTH, United Kingdom Conventional wisdom has been having a bad few weeks since the dawn of the New Scotland. The latest manifestation of this is the election of Stewart Hosie as the deputy leader of the SNP. Scottish Government transport minister Keith Brown had been seen as the favourite in the race to replace NicolaContinue reading "‘Thinking outside the bubble’: Analysis on the new SNP leadership"